


Invicta Animi

by IlloustriousTaco



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Angst, Blizzard of 68, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Winter Womb Jack, Written by an Evil Author
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-01
Updated: 2014-07-04
Packaged: 2017-12-31 03:03:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 19
Words: 50,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1026509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IlloustriousTaco/pseuds/IlloustriousTaco
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack is going through a very rough patch. A very rough patch... this time there are trolls involved. </p><p>Bunny is also going through a rough patch, and where did this blizzard even come from? He's also of the opinion that trolls are really annoying and he hates bullies. </p><p>This is what happens when their paths cross.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In the fell clutch of circumstance

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story exploring the Winter Womb Jack idea coined by Kayasurin, as well as fiddling a little bit with a prompt from the kink meme calling for a Jack who had given up hope of being seen and appropriately let himself deteriorate a bit. 
> 
> I know I only just got the first chapter of Summer up, and that story is going to take priority until its done. I'm going to be using Burning Summer as my nanowrimo story, so hopefully it will go quickly and have many fast updates. 
> 
> This story's update pace will be more erratic, updating when I work on it between life, Summer, and anything else that thinks it has a claim on my time. It will probably have fairly quick updates, but I make no promises.

Laughter floated lightly on the wind, children pelting each other with snowballs in late season cold. Every few moments a snowball would seem to come literally out of nowhere, normally hitting people who were on the edges of the fray and drawing them into the fight with laughter. No one saw the young man throwing the snowballs that made the kids laugh, and no one saw the blue snowflakes from those special snowballs.

Each swing of the boy's staff left piles of snowballs perfect for throwing closest to the groups of kids who looked like they were running out of ammo. Their laughter filled the air like a balm, bringing a smile to his face.

If anyone could see him, they would definitely think he was the kind of person who needed a smile, but it was just as well that they couldn't. He had long ago given up on being seen by anyone, and actively did what he could to avoid other spirits. It was hard to tell what color his long hair was, probably light, but so full of dirt, twigs, leaves and knots that it was sticking out from his head in places. His clothes were rags, barely serviceable at all; the pants tattered and more patch than pants, and the shirt bare rags showing the almost skeletal form underneath.

He didn't eat nearly as often as he needed to, but it didn't bother him as he spread more snowballs and happiness among the playing children. Hunger was an old friend after all.

He paused, looking around as he felt a tell-tale tingle on the back of his neck, before darting towards the nearby trees as quickly as he could. Pain gripped his center as he ran through un-seeing children, but it was important that he get away from the vulnerable human children.

The heavy club that nearly knocked his head into a tree would have done far more damage to the children still playing in the spring snow if he hadn't gotten away from them. As it was, the tree the club hit shuddered, a resounding crack filled the air as the solid oaks' roots lifted from their usual home in the ground.

“Huh... Feisty little treat,” the troll stated as one meaty paw reached for the bedraggled boy. The monstrous creature wasn't nearly fast enough to catch him, the spindly boy jumping and rolling quickly to get away from him, a fierce scowl on his features, though the growl in his throat was too high pitched to be menacing.

The boy almost didn't see the next descending club until it was too late; he cried out when he didn't dodge quickly enough, tumbling to the side when the club clipped his leg.

“Slow down little pet... we don't want to have to hurt you very much,” a third troll crooned; the boy growled again. “Much harder for you to fulfill your purpose if we have to beat you to a pulp.”

All the trolls laughed at that, which gave away the position of yet another one somewhere behind him, and the boy glanced behind him, bright blue eyes narrow and uncertain. One troll was little problem, he could fight that and usually walk away afterwards.

Two was hard, but he could probably escape relatively intact if he put his mind to it as long as they didn't go after the humans.

Four trolls? All of them were three or more times as big as he was, and fast enough that he was in real trouble.

The high pitched growl was constant in his throat, and he bared his teeth in warning, much like a cat fluffing out its fur to make itself more intimidating and about as effective as far as the trolls were concerned. Their laughter drowned out his growls as they closed in, and wild blue eyes darted around looking for some manner of escape.

“If you run, we'll eat those plump, tasty humans you were playing with,” one of the trolls declared, seemingly reading the boy's mind.

Anger at the threat made frost blossom from his staff as the boy stood straight, slamming the staff's butt into the ground. It was enough to give him the element of surprise as he slammed the crook of the staff into the face of the toll who made the threat, not that it did much good.

Even as the troll roared in outrage, his cohorts started swinging their brutal clubs towards the ice sprite. The first salvo of blows caught him in the chest and arms, knocking him back and into the partially uprooted tree.

He managed to turn the fall into a controlled tumble and jump, rolling up the side of the tree with no concern for little things like gravity or the angry shouts behind him. The tree shuddered more even as the boy reached some of the upper branches, groaning as he held tight to his ribs. It hurt to breathe, and being up the tree wasn't going to give him much time to figure out what to do next, because the trolls were already working on uprooting the strong old oak.

If he had the wind carry him away, they would undoubtedly follow through with their threat and do something horrible to the humans playing in his snow. If he stayed...

The boy shuddered, whimpering because he knew exactly what these monsters would do to him if they caught him alive.

With a resounding crack, the tree that he was in tilted to the side, falling much too fast for him to manage to get out of it before it slammed into the ground. His aching ribs seemed to take the most damage, but sharp twigs and breaking branches made sure that the rest of his body didn't come through unharmed.

“Stop struggling, elfie, and we'll be kind.” The trolls laughed at the words, and the boy knew better than to believe them. Kindness was a myth, an illusion to bring more pain and humiliation.

He growled again as he struggled away from the fallen tree, aching all over but determined not to make this easy for his tormentors. When harsh hands pulled him up by his shoulders, gripping too tight, he barely managed to keep from panicking at the terror coursing through him. When the troll spoke, the tenuous grip he had on his powers snapped.

“You'll make a fine broodmare. You'll be the mother to our new tribe.” The troll taunted softly, pulling the boy close and tightening his already painful grip enough to make the boy scream.

He couldn't, he wouldn't survive being used that way again, he couldn't bear to have _that_ done to him again and again, or the pain of giving birth to monstrosities he despised.

With a second shriek, all pretense at control was gone, and winter burst from him, chilling the air so fast that the trees nearby started cracking and popping, and as the temperature continued to plummet, a few of the younger ones exploded. The troll dropped him, screaming at the blackened, frost burnt mess his hands had suddenly become, and the other trolls screamed something back.

The winter sprite couldn't hear what they said, or understand if he had, too far gone in his own panic and fear and the rush of all his careful control being torn away. The relatively sunny spring morning suddenly gave way to black storm clouds, the weather changing so abruptly that lightning was sparking. What came down from the sky could less be described as snow, and more as hail and ice.

And the wind, a companion made of his own power and strength, screeched in fury, picking up the fluffy snow that had been on the ground and throwing it back into the air defiantly.

In moments the world had gone from cold spring to deadly winter. The storm started out small and focused here, but the winter sprite could already feel it spreading, draining him of power as it tried to encompass everything.

The trolls were shouting, and struggling to get to him against the whiteout conditions of the storm, and the boy knew this was going to be his only chance to flee. Limping, exhausted and getting less and less coherent by the second, the boy struggled to run away.

* * *

Aster cursed loudly and creatively as the sudden blizzard blew up around him where he was scouting out good places to hide the googies in the morning tomorrow. He was pretty far north, checking some of the towns around the Hudson Bay, but there still wasn't supposed to be a storm of this magnitude out here.

The humans were all cursing as well, moving quickly to get back to their homes and shelters. Aster didn't find any stragglers as he started making his way to the center of the storm, ready to give whatever starkers larrikin had called this mess up a real piece of his mind. He had worked hard to get this already cold area to warm up to the idea of spring, so the fact that there was a bloody blizzard, right before his big holiday, was enough to make him lose his block.

When he finally made it to the storm's center, he definitely didn't expect what he found.

The winter sprite was fairly expected, though the lad didn't look a thing like what Aster had imagined creating this storm. Instead of being some laughing bright-eyed creature, he was ragged and thin, with clothes that looked like they had been fished out of the rag heaps long after they should have been burned. The sprite's long hair was so tangled and unkempt that it would have driven Aster mad to have that mess on his head. The bruises, cuts and wounds all spoke for themselves, especially as the boy let out a muffled scream when a large club landed fast on his head.

The fact that the trolls were obviously tormenting the poor little sprite was enough to make the Easter Bunny see red, but the fact that they were continuing to torment the boy even when it was obvious that he was unconscious and his power was no longer feeding into the storm made him beyond furious.

He didn't even think before he jumped into the fray, let alone hesitate to do his best to destroy the trolls. Being a master of several forms of martial arts as well as a powerful spring spirit in his own right, meant that the brutal fight was short.

Growling to himself as he rolled his shoulder, which had taken a glancing blow from one of the trolls shortly before he kicked its ribcage through its spine, he approached the out-cold winter sprite. Despite the punishment his obviously malnourished body had taken, the sprite was still gripping tightly to a frost covered staff, twitching in his sleep like he was still struggling.

“Shhh... its okay, you're safe now,” Aster said softly, hissing slightly as he touched the boy's beyond-cold skin, as he gently pet the boy's arm and continued to murmur soothing words to him as he calmed down and went from deadly cold to merely chilled. “Come on, you little galah, lets get you somewhere more comfortable.”

There was no way his conscience was going to let him just leave the boy here when he went about his business, and even beyond the howl of the wind, he could hear how labored the boy's breathing was. Careful to hurt the boy as little as possible, he pulled the lad onto his back before opening one of his tunnels and making his way to the Warren and his warm, comfortable Burrow. In his tunnels it didn't take long, and soon he was setting the boy down on the fluffy blankets and pillows that made up his nest. He didn’t pay any mind to the dirt and mess yet, first getting a first aid kit and a large basin of warm water so he could tend the scratches, cuts, and bruises.

The boy had stirred just a little when they reached the warmer part of Aster's tunnels, so he had thought the boy would wake up soon, but it appeared that he was sleeping even more deeply now than he had been in the heart of that storm. Shaking his head, Aster set about removing the tattered rags the boy was using for clothes and cleaning him up before applying bandages and salves that would numb the pain and help the sprite heal.

The sheer amount of damage as well as the old scars and frailty in the boy's body was enough to have Aster seeing red again, though now wasn't the time to be angry. It didn't take long to tend to the wounds and clean the boy up, and Aster had even managed to brush out and detangle the lad's long hair, putting it in a quick braid.

Since there was nothing else to do for the boy now, Aster decided to get back to his scouting. He was still on a tight schedule after all, though he did take a few moments to leave a few sandwiches and something to drink by the nest for the boy.

* * *

He lingered somewhere between being asleep and being awake. It was too nice to be reality, he was comfortable and covered, and he wasn't in pain. There was something warm that smelled clean wrapped around him, earthy and green like nothing he had ever known.

He thought he had memories of being held safe in strong, gentle hands, with the scent of something sweet and musky.

Finally though, pain in his abdomen bought him out of that sweet, hazy dream of comfort and warmth, his stomach making itself known against his spine like an old familiar friend visiting yet again. Even as his bright blue eyes blinked open though, the pleasant sense of safety didn't disappear.

It took several moments for the strangeness of the brown, earthen ceiling above him, and the round, small open window near the top of the gently rounded wall, to sink in, prompting further details to filter to consciousness much faster.

These were not surroundings he was familiar with, and the last horrifying memory of pain and blizzard filtered into his mind even as he lashed out, ready to push anyone near away as a chunk of solid ice.

He was still shaking several minutes later as he looked around, heaving deep breaths and trying to figure out where he could possibly be. There was no one in this strange little room with him, though there was now a layer of ice covering every surface, several inches thick in some places.

This was strange, and he didn't have his meager excuse for clothes on, though that didn't mean much because no one cared if he was dressed or not as long as they got what they wanted for him, but there was cloth wrapped tight around his ribs, and moving didn't hurt as much as a memory of two clubs hitting him solidly said it should. There was more cloth wrapped around or otherwise affixed to various wounds and scratches, and an herbal smell coming from underneath most of them.

He had also woken up underneath a thick, warm quilt, on a pile of pillows and blankets that had been warm before he panicked, and blue eyes took in the reality of a wooden cup of water and a plate with sandwiches on it. They were of course frozen solid now, but they obviously hadn't started that way.

Wary, he looked around further, wondering if this was some kind of elaborate holding pen, but there wasn't even a door on the entry way, and he could see another room, much brighter and well lit, suggesting large windows.

The fact that his staff was propped against the rounded doorway was enough to have the boy springing forward and grabbing onto it like a lifeline. He had expected for the trolls to smash it or leave it behind, although the clean and well built room he found himself in argued that it wasn't the trolls who had him.

In any case, there didn't seem to be a jailer present, and he needed to get out of here before whoever had him returned. Trolls were bad enough, but a complete unknown was even worse. Even if he didn't hurt or feel bad now, there was a guarantee that when whoever had him discovered that he wasn't going to willingly bear their offspring he would be chained and used anyways.

He didn't bother to wrap the blanket around himself for cover, it would only get in the way if he had to fight. As much as it felt wrong to go about naked, he refused to get caught and hurt again just because he couldn't untangle himself from whatever he was wearing.

The room beyond the one where he had woken up was indeed large, with more windows that lacked glass or bars, letting a warm breeze drift through. There was a table with a chair in front of it under one of the windows, and all of the walls were lined with shelves of books. There didn't seem to be any dangers in this room, so the youth continued on to the next open room, this one recognizably a kitchen though it was much cleaner than he was used to.

There was a door here, and he was careful as he used his staff to push it open, ready for a trap of some kind, something to force him to stay inside perhaps, some spell that would make it impossible for him to step outside. When nothing seemed to be barring the way of his staff when he poked the tip of it out, he cautiously followed, more wary than ever.

Despite how careful he was being, he was not in the least bit prepared for what awaited him when he crossed the threshold.

It was green as far as his eyes could see, plants of all kinds spread out everywhere, with flowers in every color he had ever seen everywhere. There was so much light illuminating everything, and it was so warm that it made him stagger; he wasn't used to the heat, but it felt very good. Brightly colored little insects flitted from plant to plant, drawing his attention here and there as he tried to take it all in.

“Bloody hell, you're starkers!”

The voice startled him, and he spun around and dropped into the closest approximation of a battle stance he could despite his prior injuries, his staff pointing towards the tall rabbit like creature that had spoken.

“Listen bloke, I ain’t here for a blue. I'm the one who bandaged you up in fact, and its a bloody good thing I stopped by North's to pick up some trackies for you,” the creature said, moving forward and extending its hands with folded cloth in them.

* * *

Aster hadn't been sure to expect his guest to be up quite so soon, but the sight of the nude, almost skeletal figure standing in front of his Burrow, looking around with wide, brilliant blue eyes, had him stifling the impulse to stuff the boy back in bed and feed him till he gained at least double what he currently had to weigh.

He was glad that his fur hid his blush as he moved towards the lad, holding out the outfit he had gotten from North before coming back to the Warren. The Guardian of Wonder had been confused to see him on Easter, but had understood when Aster explained the situation. There would be plenty of down time to help the boy recover from his injuries while Aster recuperated from his holiday frenzy, but North wanted to meet the kid when he was feeling better.

The way the boy growled slightly as he skittered back from Aster had the Pooka frowning, though he still held out the track suit, wondering why the nude lad wasn't taking it.

“Its alright... I'm not gonna hurt you,” he said, sighing after a moment and setting the clothes down on the grass before backing up a little. He hoped he had read the situation right, and that the kid could accept the clothes this way.

When the boy stepped forward he considered it a good thing, though the lad was still making that strange, high pitched growl as he bought the tip of his staff down to poke at the clothes. When nothing jumped out at him, he took another quick half step forward and scooped them up off the ground before bouncing back several feet and planting the end of his staff in the ground.

Aster wasn't sure he had ever seen anyone get dressed so fast, and he winced at the thought of the pain that moving that way had to be putting the boy's bruised ribs through. When he struggled with the top for a moment, Aster started to move forward to help him, only for the boy to grab up his staff and move backwards again.

“Listen, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to help you out,” he said calmly, holding his paws out in as non-threatening a manner as he possibly could. “My name is Aster. I'm the Easter Bunny. Who are you?” He asked, keeping his voice soothing and gentle, much the same way he would with wild animals and young children, which seemed very appropriate here.

He had never met anyone who reminded him so much of a wounded wild animal.

Instead of answering, the boy raised his staff, growling just a little louder and backing away a little more.

“Alright, I get it. I'm not going to try to grab you, I promise. I am however going to get some food ready. I don't know if you saw the sandwiches I left out for you by the nest, but I've had a busy few days so I'm going to make some food. You need to eat too, so I'll make enough for both of us.”

Aster kept his voice soothing and as nonthreatening as he could manage as he went into the Burrow, pulling out plates and a jug of juice from where it was cooling in the pantry. 

Even as he prepared fresh egg sandwiches, he kept up a steady commentary on what he was doing, tracking the boy with his ears rather than turning to watch him directly. He hoped that by doing this, it would help the boy relax and make him comfortable enough to settle down. 

He knew from disconcerting experience how hard it could be to get ahold of ones self when trying to get used to the company of others after a while alone. It had taken Tooth and Sandy years to get him as socially well-adjusted as he was after a five hundred year wilderness binge shortly after Atlantis sank.

Instead of following him into the Burrow, the boy lingered at the doorway, obviously reluctant to come back inside, but not running away either which Aster counted as a win. When the sandwiches were ready, he set them on plates, putting his own on the table before turning towards his guest.

“I'm going to bring this to you... do you want me to set it down or are you comfortable taking it from me?” Aster held out the plate as he spoke, ready to set it down in the doorway if the boy showed signs of being too skittish and backing away, but before he had even finished asking the question the boy darted forward and snatched the sandwiches off the plate, before retreating to the doorway. “Well, that answers that.”

He decided to be amused rather than annoyed, smirking as the boy dug into the sandwiches and moving to sit down at his table to enjoy his own meal. The snow sprite somehow perched on his staff, the crazy little drongo, hunched in and tearing at the sandwiches even as Aster kept speaking between his own bites. He took the opportunity to tell the kid about his work on Easter, letting his words ramble on until they were both done eating.

It didn't take long for either of them to finish their meals, and Aster set the plates in the sink for later rather than dealing with them now. There were quite a few dishes stacked up and waiting to be done, but he had just come out of his busy time, and he was going to rest now rather than pushing himself to get that done. Looking over at his guest he sighed, wondering what he was going to do with the boy for now.

“Would you like to sleep in the nest, or should I bring out some blankets for you to set up outside?” he asked, not really expecting an answer, so he wasn't disappointed when the only response was the boy growling at him.

“Right... outside would probably be best ‘til you're more comfortable with being inside a building. I'll be right back,” he concluded, heading back into the nest room in order to get some blankets.

That was when he discovered that there were a couple of inches of ice on everything in the room, including his spare blankets. What wasn't still frozen was soaked, and it was all Aster could do for several moments to holds onto his temper and not charge out yelling at his guest.

Since there was nothing in the room that was salvageable, Aster sighed and moved out to his library, hoping that he had left at least a throw on the chair by his desk, but there wasn't so much as an available rug. He sighed again and moved back out, looking at the nervous snow sprite in the doorway with exasperation.

“Well, no one is sleeping in the nest tonight, but a few days for everything to dry out and she'll be apples,” he stated, managing to keep most of the annoyance out of his voice though the sprite still winced when he spoke. “Don't worry about it. I tend to fall asleep in the field in front of the Burrow often enough that I know its fairly comfortable, though I don't have any dry spare blankets at the moment.”

The boy backed away as Aster left the building, looking flighty and like he was about to flee, but he calmed down when Aster simply dropped himself onto a comfortable clump of grass and settled in to sleep. His ears kept track of the snow sprite, but he really was very tired, what with dealing with the aftermath of a blizzard still going strong during his holiday, and dealing with North after the frantic weeks that had led up to Easter in the first place.

“Get some sleep, snowflake. There's nothing that is more important than rest right now,” Aster admonished with a yawn, listening to the boy drop down into the grass instead of fiddling with that staff of his. Hopefully he would be comfortable, because Aster didn't have much else to offer him at the moment than a patch of soft grass and a place in the Warren. “Tomorrow I'll get started on the clean up, and we'll see what we can do about changing your bandages... most of the salves will need to be reapplied, but I can talk you through it if you would rather I don't help...”

Aster continued to speak for several minutes, focusing on keeping his voice soothing even though he was yawning every few words until he fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

The boy watched the strange bipedal Rabbit settle down, wondering exactly what the odd creature thought he was doing. If the furry creature thought he could lull the boy into a sense of security and safety and convince him to drop his guard, he had another thing coming. There was no way that he would ever trust this strange thing, even if he had apparently done something to keep him away from the trolls.

Still, the stranger didn't seem to be all that upset about the iced-over sleeping room, and he hadn't tried to get closer than the boy was comfortable with more than a few times. And now the creature was sleeping, and deeply if the snow sprite was any judge of things.

Just in case though, he was careful as he got closer, moving inch by slow inch until he was just in front of the giant rabbit, and the snow sprite knelt down, looking closer. Its fur was dusty, matted and dry in places, like it hadn't had time to groom itself recently, and the boy frowned, feeling his own head where tangles as large as his fist had been the day before.

For some reason, the rabbit had groomed the boy, but not himself when given the opportunity. Why would he waste time on a snow sprite when he obviously needed to be taken care of as well?

He let his cool fingers test how soft the Rabbit's fur really was, stroking along the strange creature’s cheek while it slept, before he backed away, not exactly sure what to do now. Well, actually if his host wasn't going to take care of himself, he could get started on that as a repayment for what hospitality he had been shown so far. There was no way the creature was going to be able to bind him here in some way by trying to say he hadn't repaid the kindness he was shown.

* * *

Aster was exhausted, so he slept a lot longer than he really meant to, and woke up bleary and wondering why he was out on the soft grass of his lawn rather than in his cool, dark nest in the Burrow. The nearby pitter-patter of feet in the grass startled him, and his eyes snapped open as he remembered his guest.

He didn't see the boy immediately, but he did see most of his blankets and pillows spread out in the warm afternoon light, apparently dry or drying. He sat bolt upright when he realized that the boy had to have been the one to bring all of his frozen or wet linens outside to dry. He had definitely been too knackered to do it himself, and while he had the habit of occasionally sleep-painting his googies, he had never had the habit of sleepwalking through household chores.

It took him a moment to spot the boy, perched up on top of the Burrow where he was apparently spreading out Aster’s largest quilt to dry. The Warren didn't have actual sunlight, but the light was so close that it made no difference when it came to growing most plants and letting things dry in the light. He had set it up so that the day and night cycles perfectly matched the cycles on the surface, so for the light to be this bright, it had to be late afternoon, and he had gone to sleep when it had gotten dark the night prior.

When the boy spotted Aster, there was a brilliant grin on his face that just looked perfect, despite the boy apparently being soaked to the bone. Aster did a double take as he realized that his guest was completely drenched, quite a bit wetter than the bedding he was spreading out to dry.

Telling himself that why the boy was soaked wasn't as important as talking to him, Aster sighed, rubbing one paw over his forehead before smiling at the grinning larrikin. “Good morning. I take it I slept a bit longer than I meant to?” When the boy nodded, still smirking, Aster laughed in good natured embarrassment. “What would you say to something to eat then? I know I'm feeling a mite peckish.”

The wary look on the boy's face when Aster offered something to eat was enough to make the Pooka want to wrap him up and cuddle him, but he had a feeling that wouldn't go over well. Wild animals were less wary than this sprite.

Aster just smiled and moved to go into the Burrow, looking around his kitchen for some clean dishes to make food with. He did another double take when he realized that the huge stack of dirty dishes that had been flooding out of the sink had disappeared, and when he checked the cabinets he found the missing items. Wide eyed and confused he moved outside, looking back to where the snow sprite was now perched on his staff in a way that defied all gravity.

“Did you... clean my Burrow? Thank you.”

The way that the boy's cheeks immediately frosted over, turning sparkly and white with ice, was adorable, as was the shy nod that the boy gave. The fact that the boy finally ducked his head and covered it with his arms when Aster said thanks just made him adorable.

“Come on... you can at least stand by the door while I make dinnies,” Aster said, finding great pleasure in the snow sprites attitude. “I think I'll make some carrot cookies and a stew. Do you mind a vegetable stew? Not that I really make anything with meat in it, not hard meat at least.”

Aster let his words flow in the same soothing tone he had taken with the boy the night before, carefully not watching him as he pulled out the supplies for dinner.

He was trying very hard not to read too far into the boy cleaning his home, because as easy as the snow sprite was on his eyes, it was doing certain things to his instincts. Very old instincts that he had to ignore more often than not because the other spirits never meant it the way that his instincts insisted they did.

The food was almost done when he heard the tell tale sound of one of North's portals opening, and he cursed under his breath as he put the stove out and pulled the food aside. North was too much of a busy body, showing up a day after Easter when he knew Aster usually rested for about a month afterwards, never mind his skittish guest.

“Is this Boy who needed clothes?” North's booming voice had Aster cursing even more loudly as he darted out the door, just in time to witness Tooth being Tooth and sticking her fingers in the wide-eyed winter spirit’s mouth.

“Oh what beautiful teeth! They sparkle like new-fallen... OW!!”

The exclamation as she pulled away from the boy was only punctuated by the high pitched growl coming from the winter spirit as he darted away from her. The boy kept his staff between himself and the other Guardians as he darted behind Aster, the growl not letting up.

“How many times have I warned you to ask before doing your fang carpenter impression?” Aster said, amused despite himself.

“He didn't have to bite me,” Tooth pouted, actually _pouted_ , which would have been enough amusement to make it worth it if it wasn't for the fact that Aster was still winding down from his weeks-long Easter binge.

“What are you guys doing here?” Aster asked, one paw rubbing his head even as the other Guardians looked a little sheepish. “You lot don't usually bother me ‘til at least a few weeks after my holiday.”

“Well... you stopped by to ask for clothes for guest. We were curious about what kind of person guest was,” North stammered out, even as Aster rolled his eyes. “Honestly, we're concerned for you.”

Aster would have believed it, if the other two Guardians hadn't looked even more sheepish as the Cossack spoke. Sandy even shrugged apologetically, despite the grin on his face as he moved towards Aster and the snow spite behind him. When he heard the boy's growl go higher in pitch, he moved to the side so that he would stay between the lad and Sandy. The boy was definitely getting more stressed out, and he had just finally gotten the lad to relax a little.

“No need to be concerned. As you can see, I'm not in any danger, and I'm tired and cranky, and hungry. Give me a few minutes to work and I can make some more food up for all of you,” he offered, glaring at Sandy where the dream weaver was hovering in front of him, looking a little forlorn that Bunny had moved between him and the snow sprite.

Aster didn't regret it, he could hear how hard the snow sprite’s heart pounding and how stressed he sounded between the growling and his breathing. The boy didn't sound good at all and it was wreaking havoc with the Pooka's instincts again. All Aster wanted to do was drag the boy somewhere away from the intruders and wrap himself around the sprite until he calmed down and relaxed into Aster's possessive grip.

Considering how badly most human spirits took the possessive side of Pooka courting, and how skittish the snow sprite was, he was aware that it was a very bad idea. That didn't stop him from feeling resentful that the other Guardians were in his lair around his - guest. The boy was not a potential mate, even if he had cleaned up after the bachelor Pooka.

“Bunny? Are you alright?” Tooth's words snapped Bunny out of his thoughts and it was all he could do to keep from growling at the sheila.

“I'm fine. Like I said though its been a long week, and Easter wasn't as successful this year as I wanted. There was a blizzard covering about a quarter of North America and although the sprogs still believe, its not the same,” Aster grumbled, blaming the weather even though the drop in his power was barely perceptible and certainly not permanent.

Since his back was turned, he didn't see the snow sprite behind him flinch, though he did hear the boy's soft footfalls as he darted away, and he turned in confusion wondering where the boy was going.

“Bunny... did winter sprite perhaps have something to do with Easter storm?” Norths words made the Pooka realize just what he had said, and Aster groaned as he dropped his head into his hands.

* * *

He didn't know how far or for how long he ran, though it didn't feel like long. He had ruined something of the rabbits, of 'Bunny's', and he didn't understand what but the way the tall creature had deflated as he mentioned the storm it had to be important. He hadn't thought about how he had already inconvenienced the creature until he brought up the storm, and he hadn't meant to but it was still all his fault.

He was so confused because by all rights 'Bunny' should have been furious with him, hating him for ruining 'Easter', whatever that was.

The fact that he was even here, wherever here was, was wrong, he wasn't supposed to be around others. It was too dangerous and eventually the rabbit would have snapped and realized how much of a drain he was, or what he was and used him. He didn't want to be used. He should have left and run when 'Bunny' had fallen asleep, and he wasn't exactly sure what had made him stick around.

The fact that he couldn't find his way out of this giant cave didn't help.

He was growling in frustration and anger when he set himself down inside of the mouth to some kind of cave. There were intricate carvings all around the stone of the tunnel, but the snow sprite could tell that the tunnel didn't go anywhere. For being a huge open space, Bunny's home seemed to be a maze he couldn't get out of.

He didn't belong here, it was too warm, and he hated being trapped. Growling again, he leaned against the tunnel wall, wondering exactly how he could get out of this place.

He was still skulking when his stomach grumbled, the aroma of something making him realize that he was starving although it wasn't enough to make him get up and go looking for something to eat. He wouldn't starve to death, although being hungry was never fun, and he had even eaten recently so it wasn't that bad.

He was still surprised when there was a sudden movement in front of him as a tray was set down, and he looked up, scrambling away as he realized that Bunny was towering over him. The tray that he had set down had a large bowl of soup and what looked like half a loaf of carrot bread on it.

Instead of coming closer again though, Bunny backed away and sat down against the opposite wall of the tunnel, just looking at the snow sprite instead of starting in on his usual rambling talk.

He was still nervous as he approached the food, poking the tray with his staff before sniffing the food on it to make sure there was no drugs or poisons in it. He was surprised when he didn't sense anything of the kind, he warily watched Bunny as he tore into it.

“I don't blame you, ya know,” Bunny said, and the boy hesitated before continuing to eat. “The storm was part of you defending yourself from those brutes, and it didn't do so much damage as I told the others. They know I get cranky when they show up this soon after Easter. Haven't even got the googies cleaned up yet.”

The snow sprite snorted, one white eyebrow up in disbelief even as he tore into another hunk of the bread, being careful but eating quickly.

“Don't look so skeptical Snowflake. There's still a lot to do around here to get things finished up,” Bunny said, and the boy found himself grinning brightly at the nickname. “Not so much to do that a little down time isn't called for though. I like relaxing when my holiday is over, and my friends are great but not so easy to relax around if you know what I mean.”

Snowflake grinned, letting Bunny see it clearly to show that he enjoyed what he was saying though he didn't get it himself. His friends were tiring? How did that even work.

He wasn't going to contradict the rabbit though, especially when there was decent food involved.

“Would you mind coming back to the Burrow with me? If you don't mind, I could use another pair of hands to help with the cleanup.” Snowflake jerked back in surprise, narrowing his eyes in suspicion even as the rabbit smirked at him. “I can't really pay you anything, but I've got plenty of food around here and a safe place to rest and recover. You know, from whatever.”

Snowflake hesitated, glaring darkly at the rabbit as he tried to decide what to do next. On one hand, this seemed like a great deal. Food and a safe place to rest, all for a little bit of work, but he was so certain that there was some kind of horrible downside.

“Come on, my word that you'll be safe here. I don't know what happened to you, but I promise you can recover in peace here.” Bunny frowned for a moment. “By the way, what is your name?”

Grinning, the snow spirit didn't say anything, instead forming a large snowflake made of ice in his hands, showing it to the rabbit when he finished it.

“What? Your name is actually Snowflake?” The boy shook his head, and Bunny's eyebrows went up. “You want me to call you that though? You're a right barmy one,” the rabbit chuckled as the snow sprite nodded, and Snowflake grinned even wider, flicking the large blue snowflake at the other being, which made him laugh more.

He liked that sound; he liked it alot. Maybe staying around wouldn't be such a bad decision after all.


	3. Chapter 3

The days following Easter were some of the best and some of the hardest that Aster had been through in a while. Snowflake had been there helping him clean up after his hectic holiday, kind and gentle with the googies and surprisingly good with the rooted plants as well though there had been a few mishaps with the boys wintery power and some of the more delicate things in the vegetable garden. 

Those mishaps had gotten Aster curious though about the extent of the boy’s control. He already knew that the youth had enough raw power to cover a quarter of a continent if he went all out, but when most of the cleanup was done, and the next  set of spring seeds were planted, he asked the boy to experiment on using just a little of his power to kill off weeds and harmful plants and insects without harming his garden. 

It worked out better than Aster had any right to have expected, and he was delighted with how fine the boy’s control could be.  Snowflake seemed more tired after he used his power that way, but Aster kept an eye on him, determined not to make the boy overwork himself. 

That led to the fact that Aster had been taking more breaks himself, determined to make certain his guest wasn’t over worked or under fed, which meant that he wasn’t doing as much as fast this year. Granted, with the extra set of hands he was actually ahead of where he expected to be in cleanup and setup for the next year,  but it was a little un-nerving to feel so energised, especially when it seemed that even with all the breaks, Snowflake still looked tired. 

Thankfully, with Aster calling food breaks every four or five hours during the day, and sleep breaks about an hour after it got dark, the boy was healing well and even seemed to be gaining some weight. The clothing that Aster had aquired from North fit the boy a little better every day, although it was plain and obvious it would take more than several months to repair all the damages the boy had suffered. 

There were so many bright points though, especially after the boy had relaxed more around Aster. The boy would wear a bright grin when herding the googies and the googie seeds wherever Aster needed them, and there was one memorable occasion that although it had almost given Aster a heart attack, seemed to have left Snowflake even more happy. 

He had been repairing one of the sentinels up on the bluffs surrounding most of the Warren when Snowflake joined him. The boy seemed to be just as determined to take care of him as he was to take care of the boy, because he had bought up a bowl of soup and a jug of water, the look in his sparkling blue eyes reminding Aster that the Pooka hadn’t eaten that morning. 

“Thanks, Snowflake.” Aster said, setting down his tools and wiping his paws as he climbed down from the derelict sentinel. “Have you already had a bite?” 

There was a slight flush of frost across the boys cheeks, but he nodded, a slightly challenging look in his eye as he handed over the tray holding the food, and Aster sat down, chuckling. 

“Right then. Almost got the sentinel up working again, just need to get a few more gears back in place and I can close the tower up. Unlike the wandering egg sentinels, the towers aren’t that complicated, acting as relays for the wandering ones and lookouts in the more vulnerable places of my Warren.” Aster was explaining between bites of soup, looking out over the warren. This was one of the highest places in the warren, closest to one of the open air exits letting light and the occasional weather into his Warren. 

For all that it was regulated and kept in order by magic and his own checks and balances systems, it occasionally needed the weather from outside. He turned away from looking over the rolling expanses of the warren, the old storage rooms, the dens, the fields, only to be startled by how far out Snowflake was leaning. 

“Might want to pull back a bit there Frosty…” Aster wasn’t sure if Snowflake had just been spacing out and forgotten he was there, or if he had said something that actually startled the boy, but he blanched as he stumbled, turning towards Aster with a look of panic on his face. 

Even as he fell though he reached towards Aster, although the Pooka didn’t feel like he was fast enough, his paw just short of Snowflakes fingers as the pale boy fell. 

Aster was already scrambling down the cliff face, determined to reach the bottom and get Snowflake the medical help he would undoubtedly need, before realizing that the boy wasn’t falling so much as floating down, an incredulous look on his face. Bright blue eyes were watching Aster, even as the boy stumbled when his feet hit the ground, landing in a graceful heap instead of on his feet. 

Considering that Aster had expected the boy to be screaming in pain from broken bones from his landing, this was much better, but the slightly panicked look on his face was enough to have Aster continuing his mad descent to find out if he was ok. 

“Snowflake, did you hurt anything? Are  you alright?” 

The boy looked up as Aster approached, and Aster didn’t even think about it until Snowflake flinched back as he reached towards him. He immediately withdrew, not liking the look of fear on the boy’s face or the sour feeling it awoke in his chest. 

“Are you alright? Did you hurt anything when you fell?” he asked again, pulling back so that he wouldn’t make Snowflake so uncomfortable. The boy still had a hard time coming within three feet of him while doing chores for more than a few moments at a time, before he would tense and skitter away. 

Aster was fairly sure that Snowflake wasn’t hurt, but he didn’t want to risk the boy trying to retreat while he was injured. Snowflake smiled though, just nodding his head as he pulled himself back to his feet, and Aster breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Look, I’m sorry for startling you, though I would say that turnabout is fair play with that fall and all,” Aster said, running one paw over his head sheepishly. 

Snowflake only grinned, making a show of dusting himself off before making an elaborate bow, as if to say that he would be here all week like an old time performer. It seemed like all Aster’s time with Sandy, and the resulting games of charades, were finally paying off. 

“Aight you,” his voice was full of good humor as he spoke, the tone undercutting the harshness of his words. “lets get back to work and see about finishing up out here.”

* * *

Despite not being able to speak at the moment, coupled with other hardships that made it nigh impossible to get comfortable, Snowflake was really enjoying himself. He was having fun in the Warren, keeping Bunny company and doing the odds and ends tasks that he could to help out. The rabbit didn't take nearly good enough care of himself, often forgetting to eat or rest unless Snowflake got in his face to remind him. 

It was a chore in and of itself, taking care of Bunny so that the other wouldn't forget the little things, like cleaning up and sleeping. It had turned out that the giant pile of dishes and the absolute mess in the Burrow was not simply a spring thing, but Bunny's natural organizational skills coming into play. It was like the rabbit had never heard of a way to organize things so that they were actually usable instead of being hidden and all but un-findable when they were needed. 

Snowflake had already done what he could to fix most of it, but every day Bunny wandered around putting things where they didn't belong and ignoring the basic necessities of life. Since the white haired winter sprite didn't like that, he did what he could to keep Bunny on track and taking care of himself. 

It was the least he could do considering the liberties he was taking. 

Snowflake had noticed a pattern in his sleeping, outside of the Burrow and in. The two times he had slept in Bunny's library, he had woken up from night-terrors and left ice inches thick around himself on the floor, though thankfully most of the books had escaped undamaged. When he tried to sleep outside, in a tree or on the grass, the same thing happened, but with his panicked frost killing of circles of vegetation around his sleeping area three meters wide. 

Bunny had never said anything about this, especially not when Snowflake was already trying to clean up his messes, but there had been a sad, unhappy look on his face that made Snowflake want to crawl into a dark hole and cry. 

Snowflake had decided to stop sleeping for a while to get around it, but he had gotten increasingly clumsy and had had an even harder time focusing than usual. He still blamed that for the fact that when he had happened upon Bunny passed out in one of the fields, instead of moving the Pooka to his nest, Snowflake had curled up against his side and fallen asleep right then and there. 

Thankfully he had woken up before Bunny did a few hours later so the rabbit hadn't taken advantage of the situation or been upset at how needy Snowflake felt, especially when he realized that the night-terrors had stayed far away when he was curled against the other. That of course had led to him waiting to sleep until Bunny was already out and sneaking into the nest to curl up against the Pooka's soft, earthy smelling fur to sleep. He was still very careful to leave the moment he felt Bunny start waking up, but there had been no more incidents of three meter circles of ice and frost. 

Still, despite the somewhat odd sleeping habits he had acquired, Snowflake was thriving here. 

It was never more apparent than the day he caught sight of his reflection in one of the ponds, the calm water crystal clear and the 'sky' bright and sunny. Seeing himself standing there, carrying a load of fire wood from where a few old trees had fallen at one end of the Warren to where the Burrow was situated at the other end, he had actually been startled enough to drop what he was carrying. He hadn't yet found a mirror in Bunny's Burrow, and it wasn't like there were many reflective surfaces anywhere else in the Warren, considering that wood, clay, and stone were what all of the tools were made of. 

So seeing the pale skinned boy with wide bright blue eyes set in an elfin face, and long frost white hair in a braid that fell over his shoulder was surprising. He had known that he was no longer bone thin since Bunny insisted he eat as often as the Pooka did at least, but he hadn't realized that he could look like that with the proper weight, and it might have been the way the water was reflecting the light, but his skin almost looked like it was glowing. 

It terrified him, and he wondered how he could ever be safe if he looked like this. Whimpering, he left the fire wood where he dropped it, determined to find some way to hide, some way to keep himself from being seen, from being vulnerable. 

He couldn't starve himself back down to wraith thinness, and Bunny probably wouldn't approve if he stopped keeping himself clean after all the effort the Pooka had put into cleaning him up in the first place, so there had to be another way. 

The clothes that Bunny had given him covered him from knee to shoulder, but it wasn't enough, not nearly enough, especially because other than covering his skin, they left little enough of his shape to imagination, hugging the lines of his body like they had been tailored specially for him. That being taken into consideration, he was also certain that Bunny wouldn't approve of him shredding them to act as a deterrent. 

But perhaps he could do something along those lines, find a way to hide himself without making Bunny too upset. He reached the Burrow in little enough time, and he looked around warily before going in. He hadn't been worried around Bunny lately, the other had been kind and never made a move to hurt or startle him, but Snowflake was nervous right now since he had just discovered how, healthy he looked. Anyone would be more than willing to take him and use him now that he didn't look like he would fall over dead from the slightest rough treatment, and though he wanted to trust that Bunny wouldn't do that to him, wouldn't hurt him that way, he was too scared to really let himself believe in the other. 

Sneaking in he made his way to the little linen closet, where a few dozen sets of sheets that never got used were kept in storage. Bunny didn't use them on his nest, using the same few sets of linens total, so he probably wouldn't notice one of the ones from the closet missing.

* * *

Aster found the dropped fire wood mostly by accident as he herded a set of googies from one field to the other, needing to plant this set in a different field from where they hatched. Considering that Snowflake had never left a task half completed or simply dropped anything he was doing before, it was cause for worry from the Pooka. 

Carefully herding the googies into a shallow depression that would keep most of them out of trouble, Aster followed the boy's tracks back to his Burrow, glad that there was at least that much sign of where Snowflake had gone. Ever since the boy had fallen from by the Sentinel he had been hard to keep grounded, skimming over the ground and taking short flights from place to place as his strength recovered even more. The snow sprite was getting stronger and more self assured all the time, but Aster didn't want anything to set the poor boy back. 

There didn't seem to be anything too out of place in the warren when Aster checked the door, but Snowflake had definitely gone inside. He was quiet, in case the boy was sleeping in the nest or even just hiding back there in a panic. The last thing he wanted to do was sneak up on Snowflake, but he also didn't want to startle the boy and possibly make Snowflake panic and hurt himself. 

So he was treating the sprog like he was glass, but he really wanted the boy to be happy and healthy, especially in the Warren so he had to be careful not to startle the boy. He still didn't know why Snowflake was so nervous, which was odd when he thought about it. Snowflake could talk, he had heard the boy make sounds when he was focused on what he was doing, and a few times he had caught the boy's lips forming words, though he hadn't made sounds to them, and he hoped that someday soon the snow sprite would open up to him. 

The fact that the boy was being more and more mischievous every day, and yet Aster had yet to hear him laugh about anything was even more unsettling somewhere deep in his belly as North would say. 

Aster felt a much more immediate unease as he realized that all the sheets that he had been given over the years, since North wouldn't take “No I only need one or maybe two sets of those I don't use a _bed_ , North,” as an answer, were laid out in neatly folded stacks in his kitchen. 

“Snowflake?” Aster called cautiously, still worried but less so now that he knew that the boy was up to something. It would have been un-natural for the boy not to be up to something, and the worry was easing though his curiosity was growing. “You in here mate?” 

He didn't expect to see the boy charge out of the nest room with a wide grin on his features, and one of Aster's sheets draped across his shoulders like a cloak. 

No, not 'like a cloak', the boy had somehow found a needle and thread and had cannibalized Aster's sheets to make himself a real cloak. Well, for lack of better term. 

The bulky article seemed to be two matching sheets sewn together, with the material gathered at the top to make a deep, wide hood that hid most of the boy's face. 

“You... made a cloak? Out of old sheets? Where did you find...” Aster trailed off, still mesmerized by the clashing colors of the sheets that Snowflake had used. If he ever found out who had thought neon pink and the same color of greenish-brown found in babies' diapers would look good over top of an almost glowing toxic green in a tatersall pattern, he would lock that person away in their very own hug-me-all-week jacket. They probably needed it. 

Right after he finished clawing out his own eyes. 

Snowflake nodded eagerly, doing a little spin to show how the edges flared out, though it still seemed to hide Snowflake's delicate build in a way that was vaguely disappointing. The riot of colors spinning in such a clashing manner gave Aster vertigo, but he smiled at the boy anyways, trying to be supportive. 

“It looks good, Snowflake. Honestly, but why didn't you use a different set? You would look good in blue,” Aster suggested, trying to keep his stomach from rebelling because he just couldn't take his eyes off of the monstrosity the boy was wearing. 

The boy's grin faded for just a second, and he looked almost pensive, which made Aster re-think what he had said. 

“I don't mind that you used the sheets, honest, I just thought you would have liked one of the others better, is all,” the Pooka kept his voice from being accusing, and Snowflake's face brightened back up after a moment, and he picked up a more sedate set of blue sheets in a nice medium tone, a question in his eyes, and Aster nodded. “You want to use those one to make a cloak? Help yourself, I don't generally use them anyways. El Ariahah knows I've told North often enough that I don't even use sheets most of the time and he still gets me a few sets a decade.” 

The bright look in Snowflake's face again made Aster think that the snow sprite should have been laughing, high and bright, instead of simply grinning quietly. 

“Come on. I'll start up dinnies while you get that set up, alright?” 

Snowflake nodded, cheerfully following Aster into the kitchen with his bundle of fresh sheets. The firewood could definitely wait until later, and Aster could round up his googies again after they ate and Snowflake was satisfied with his new cloak.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In honor of this being the one year anniversary of when ROTG came you, you get the next chapter. :3

Aster forced himself to lay as still as he could, feigning sleep even though he wanted to be up and working on Easter preparations. It was only a few weeks out to his big day and he was feeling more and more frantic as he tried to make sure everything was perfect. The googies that would be used on Easter all had to be painted within four days of the big day itself, but there was so much to do to make sure that it all was up to standard. 

The coloring river had to be monitored and any undesirable colors removed, the base coat flowers had to be carefully nurtured with plenty of water but not so much that they would drown, the pattern vines had to be trained into the appropriate spirals in the right places so that the googies could get to them easily, and the list went on and on. There was so much to prepare in such a short amount of time, because if it was set up too far out, the growth would get out of hand, and too close and it woudln't have enough time to settle where it needed to be. 

Not to mention that the googie fields had to be weeded almost daily at this point in their development, and thank goodness he had Snowflake's help with that because the googie fields were enormous. 

However, while Snowflake's help meant that he had more time to get everything prepared, and he was ahead on everything with the competent help, he also needed to take care of Snowflake. When he realized how peaky and tired the boy was looking, it had dawned on him that he hadn't slept in weeks, and neither had the boy. While he still had plenty of energy, and was used to conserving it during the lead int time to spring, Snowflake was flagging and needed rest, but wouldn't rest unless Aster was resting. 

It was really heartwarming that the boy would curl up next to him in the nest to get his sleep, which did a lot to sooth the Pooka's fears about how well he was recovering from whatever had happened to him. The hard part came when the boy was curled up against his side. 

Snowflake smelled good, like snowdrop and helebore flowers, scents he hadn't expected to associate with a winter sprite at all. In his somewhat limited experience, winter sprites smelled like ice and death, and perhaps in the best case dormancy or endurance, but never something like the new life of the delicate winter blooming flowers. 

It was highly appealing, and made Aster want to just wrap himself around the boy and never let go, which he imagined would go over rather like a lead balloon at the circus. 

So when the boy carefully crept into Aster's nest, the Pooka held himself still, keeping his breathing even and himself from reacting to the delightful presence burrowing into his side with an exhausted sigh. It was a test of endurance, to hold himself still instead of wrapping around the others delightfully cool form, but he had practice and he wasn't going to chase the poor winter sprite away by being possessive, even if the other was asleep for it. 

No matter how much his instincts insisted that the boy was his mate and all he needed to do was to make it official.

* * *

Snowflake sighed, drifting awake after sleeping for the first time in what felt like forever. He had been a lot more tired than he realized, but he felt so warm, and content curled up against Bunny. 

He sighed, stretching a little and pulling back, pausing in a near panic as he realized exactly how long he had been asleep. The light from the window was bright, meaning he had slept through the night, and halfway into the next day, and his wide eyes sought out Bunny's face wondering if he had been caught out sleeping with the giant rabbit. 

Bunny was still asleep though, and Snowflake sighed in relief, a blush of frost covering his face as he slowly backed away and out of the nest, determined to leave before Bunny realized he had been there at all. He hadn't meant to sleep so long, and he certainly hadn't meant to sleep so deeply. 

He didn't relax again until he was outside the Burrow, stretching in the light as he looked around. All of the Easter preparations were beyond him, but it was enough to know that he had been helping, even if he wasn't exactly sure what he was helping with. Easter seemed more and more like a magical time when he listened to Bunny talk about it, but the rabbit put so much effort into the preparations for it, that Snowflake was forced to wonder if it was really worth it. The walking eggs had for the most part all settled down, planting themselves here and there in the wide open fields that Bunny had said were set aside just for this purpose, and the few that were still wandering around were what Bunny called mini sentinels, helping patrol apparently. 

There was usually one or more near Snowflake, but he was aware that Bunny would want to keep an eye on him. If he had his own home, he would want to keep an eye on visitors as well, mostly because it was hard enough to take care of a home, but with a guest around who might make messes whether he meant to or not? Yea, it was hard. 

The sentinel googies had started following him around after he made his first cloak, keeping tabs on him much to his amusement. For the most part they couldn't follow him when he flew, and he certainly liked flying, even in the enclosed space of the Warren. Bunny was still startled each time he caught Snowflake flying, though more and more his reactions were tending towards amusement rather than anger or any other negative feeling. 

Snowflake was wearing the blue cloak while he was in the Warren, feeling safe enough to wear the color that Bunny had chosen for him, rather than the colors he had chosen to keep people from willingly looking at him. There was some part of himself that found the horridly colored plaid appealing, beyond the need for something to discourage prying eyes. 

Looking around at things that still needed to be done according to Bunny, he decided to get to work frosting the fields, a light layer of frost that would melt quickly in the Warren's warmth and leave the soil moist and ready to grow, rather than damaging the plants. Since his control was getting better and better each day, he liked to practice with it, making sure the ice was on the surface rather than in the soil, mostly because he would feel rather horrible if he damaged Bunny's plants and managed to mess up a second Easter in a row. 

He was already looking forward to going out to watch the Egg Hunts on Easter with Bunny, the leoporidae enthusing about it almost non stop for the last month and a half or so. Supposedly the big day was only a few more weeks out, which meant that the plants would need more and more water to grow big and strong enough to ensure lots of eggs for all of what Bunny called his believers. 

Snowflake found it amusing that the rabbit would bribe a bunch of humans into believing in him, but he managed to keep that under wraps for the most part. It was hard enough to keep the other spirits from seeing him, it would be scary to have humans being able to see him as well. 

He paused and looked over towards the Burrow a short time later when Bunny emerged, wondering if the Pooka had slept well, or had any idea that Snowflake had snuck in with him. 

Bunny waved at him, and Snowflake bounced over to where the rabbit stood stretching.

“Hey there Snowflake... want some breakies before we get back into the thick of it?” Bunny asked, and Snowflake nodded eagerly, quite ready for a bit of food. Sure he could go longer without eating, but if he didn't have to it was all to the good, and he had come to quite like the feeling of being full.

* * *

“Now we wait,” Bunny said, crouching behind the leaves and branches and keeping an eye on the park grounds, where children were just starting to filter in, followed by happily chatting parents. Snowflake had to admit, as tired as he was following Bunny around hiding eggs for the human children, he was also excited to see their hard work pay off so well. 

Even having only seen this once, Snowflake now understood why Bunny put so much effort into getting the 'googies' ready, and making sure everything was perfect. It was still odd how Bunny had actually grown a wide variety of eggs, not only hard boiled ones, but some of the eggs were thin layers of confection hiding chocolate or crème centers. 

“Come on, mate, the sprogs and ankle biters are enjoyen themselves, and all the magic has left the googies so there's nothin more for us to actually do around here,” Bunny said kindly, and Snowflake flushed with frost as he realized he was yawning. 

He shook his head, not wanting to draw Bunny away from watching the children enjoying his hard work, but the Pooka just chuckled at him, urging him into a rabbit hole that he opened with the tap of his foot. 

“Come on, I don't even usually watch this part, so its not like I'm skipping out on anything.” 

Snowflake couldn't help but feel scandalized by Bunny's admission, glaring at the rabbit before stubbornly sitting down to watch the children hunt their eggs. What was the point in interacting and playing with them if you couldn't enjoy their fun and games? Even though Snowflake couldn't interact with the kids, he still enjoyed playing with them, and here it was Bunny's job to interact with them and he didn't even seem to be interested in the perks, like watching them enjoy his work. 

“Come on Snowflake, you're nodding off, and even if the sprogs cant see you right now, you'll blind anyone else coming by if you fall asleep here,” Bunny said, reaching out and putting his paw on Snowflake's arm, the plaid cloak rustling under his touch. If that wasn't a sign of how much Snowflake was coming to trust him, the snow sprite didn't know what was, the fact that he didn't immediately pull away or try to ice the Pooka where he stood. 

Still, he wasn't going to let Bunny just drag him off back to the warren when he had worked as hard as the Pooka and he wanted to enjoy the perks even if the other didn't even see them. There was no conscious thought on the mater, but Snowflake was turning with a burst of blue power in his hand, throwing it into the face of the startled Pooka who let go of him and started pulling back as soon as he perceived what Snowflake was doing. 

When the small snowball burst in his face, not only was there surprise, but there were a scattering of blue sparkles wrapping around his eyes and nose. Snowflake grinned as the Pooka started chuckling, before motioning for the Pooka to look at the human children, laughing and playing and running around happily looking for the eggs that had been hidden all around for them. 

This was just one spot, and they had scattered the eggs all over the world, bringing joy and hope to the children as spring bought new life and bright-eyed innocent happiness. 

It made Snowflake feel happy to see the children so happy, and he could feel Bunny's happiness growing too. On impulse Snowflake reached out to tag Bunny, darting from cover to another hiding spot, and a few moments later the Pooka followed him with a small laugh, apparently trying to stay out of sight of the kids. Snowflake tagged Bunny two more times, darting from cover to cover, with the rabbit following him, before there was an excited shout from the kids, and the pitter patter of feet headed their way, which was enough to have Bunny laughing as he opened another hole to the Warren, wrapping an arm around Snowflake to pull him down too. 

The hole stayed open just long enough for them to hear the excited ooh's and aah's of the children as it closed.

* * *

Aster was plum knackered as they reached the warren, although he filed away the odd magic in the snowball that Snowflake had hit him with in his mind for later, determined to ask the snow sprite about it. That was a magic he had never realized that any kind of winter elemental could posses, let alone that his strange but wonderful guest had it. 

Still, he was just about falling asleep on his feet, and he knew that Snowflake wasn't much more awake, their last nap having been several weeks ago, well before the googies had started growing in and needing constant attention, like hourly. They hadn't even taken a break to eat in the few days, Aster too busy paining the hand painted googies, of which were supposed to make about a tenth of the eggs in total. Given that all the care, extra water, and in general help that Snowflake had given him meant that the googie harvest was very robust, that was a lot of eggs that needed to be painted in a very short amount of time as they came ripe. 

So he was starving, exhausted, and plain not thinking too much as he carried snowflake towards the Burrow, depositing the boy in a kitchen chair and pulling out what food he could find to put in front of him before collapsing into the other chair. He must have gotten food in himself though and then headed to bed for his usual week long nap after Easter, because he woke up not long after in his own nest. 

Curled up around a very quiet, stiff Snowflake, who was pinned to his chest by Aster's arms wrapped tight around him. The Pooka could feel that he had been happily grinding his teeth in his sleep, and his chin was firmly nestled against the boy's head.

He could smell the scent marking on the boy, and it made him want to purr and nuzzle into the boy's shoulder, perhaps even nibble playfully at him. There was something intoxicating about the boy's floral scent right now, an odd spice mixing with the usual delicate floral smell. 

The very last thing Aster wanted to do right now as let the other, his mate, go. 

Aster really needed to let go right now, otherwise the still half feral snow sprite would never trust him again, making the assumption that he hadn't already broken the boy's trust beyond repair. It was an effort of will to make his arms loosen enough to pull away from Snowflake, who pulled away slightly with a shudder. 

The pooka felt his long ears pin themselves to his head even as he tensed, a feeling of dread emanating from his gut as he realized that the boy must be very unhappy to have been pinned against his will to the Pooka. 

Considering that there were bright, unshed tears in the boy's eyes as he turned around, Aster would have hurt less if he had been punched in the belly. His throat closed, and he couldn't even begin to apologize for both pinning the boy down and scent marking him in his sleep. The scent would fade, in a few months with frequent washing, but in the mean time, even the boy's nose had to be able to pick it up, and all the other spirits would know it was there. 

However instead of pulling away and running, as Aster was scared he would, the boy wiped at his tears, his lips quirking in something akin to a smile, and the fierce Hope that the Guardian felt in that moment was enough to take his breath away. 

He didn't move as Snowflake leaned into him, burring his face in the thick fur of Aster's neck. When Aster carefully bought his arms around the boy again, his grip a little looser this time in case the boy decided he wanted to escape but still tight enough to show that he liked having Snowflake there, the boy actually relaxed, sighing into Aster's fur.

* * *

Snowflake wasn't sure why he didn't panic as Bunny dragged him into the burrow, and if he could have laughed as the Pooka placed him insistently in one of the kitchen chairs he would have. He couldn't, but that definitely didn't stop the grin from finding its way to his features, even if there was a chuckle that couldn't escape his chest. 

He ate the food that was put in front of him, before realizing that Bunny was barely picking at his food, instead watching Snowflake eat. There was something disconcerting in the Pooka's eyes, and Snowflake swallowed a sudden lump in his throat, putting down his utensils. There was no way he was eating anything more, Bunny was just acting too strange, especially when he got up and pulled Snowflake into his arms again, carrying him towards his nest. 

It was all Snowflake could do not to freeze the Pooka solid, but since the Pooka hadn't said anything since before his happy flakes, he had a feeling that this was his fault. 

Although he was expecting to end up in Bunny's nest, he wasn't expecting the rabbit to just curl around him and fall asleep. He had expected Bunny to start rutting against him maybe, or worse, and he wouldn't have been able to keep his composure if the other had, he would have panicked. There would have been several inches of ice in the nest room again if he had, including on Bunny. 

But with the rabbit simply wrapped around him, holding him tight like the most precious teddy bear in the world, it was nice. Far from being scared, or unable to cope with the other, he felt safe and protected in the tight grip of the Pooka's arms. 

He was stronger than ever, well fed and with more control of his power than he had had in a very long time, and Bunny was exhausted, so he could have escaped, but he didn't want to. 

That was another odd feeling that he wasn't sure what to do with, so instead, he gave in to his own exhaustion and closed his eyes, ready to rest until Bunny woke up. 

Given his months of sneaking in and out while the rabbit was sleeping, he woke up immediately when he felt the Pooka stiring several hours later. He couldn't help but tense as he felt the rabbits teeth grinding, not sure exactly what that meant, but he knew the exact moment that Bunny stopped and tensed himself. 

The Pooka's arms withdrawing stiffly from him made Snowflake feel horrible, the rabbit had only wanted him there because he had been under the influence of Snowflakes magic, and now he was upset at waking up with the snow sprite there with him. It hurt, and Snowflake did everything he could to fight the tears that threatened to spill as he realized that he had honestly wanted Bunny to want him there. 

It was stupid, and dangerous after everything he had been through, but he wanted to belong in the rabbits arms, close to him, able to feel his soft fur beneath cheek and fingertips, and the spring spirits warmth through winter chill. 

He turned to the rabbit, wishing he could apologies for using his magic on the other, and for invading the others space. He wanted to tell the Pooka that it wasn't his fault, and he hadn't meant for the other to feel so bad at having him there. Snowflake wanted to confess how he had been sleeping and beg for forgiveness at using the other to feel safe enough to sleep. 

But he couldn't, so he turned with tears in his eyes, expecting the other to tell him to get out. The fear on Bunny's features when he expected anger made him pause though, and he felt a cautious hope flare in him as he saw the rabbit's paw twitch toward him, his ears moving just slightly forward as the Pooka caught sight of Snowflake's expression, like he wanted to comfort the snow sprite instead of kicking him out. 

The thought was slow to bloom in his mind, that Bunny wanted him there, wanted to reach forward and pull Snowflake into his grip again, but was afraid that Snowflake didn't want that. After how wary Snowflake had always been when Bunny reached for him, the snow sprite couldn't hold that assumption against him. Bunny wasn't going to hurt him, and anger seemed to be the furthest thing from the Pooka's mind at the moment so Snowflake took a chance. 

Carefully, slowly, he leaned forward, ready to bolt if it looked like he had read the other wrong, and wrapped his arms around Bunny's chest, burring his face into the thick, warm patch of fur just below Bunny's throat. He relaxed completely when he felt Bunny's arms come around him, a happy sigh escaping him in lieu of the joyous laugh that he wanted to give out. 

Instead, he simply let himself slip back into a restful sleep, feeling safe and cared for.


	5. Chapter 5

The time after Easter was very nearly as chaotic as the days leading up to the holiday, between rushing around cleaning things, rushing around planting things, rushing around moving things, and rushing around trying to make sure that Bunny rested. Snowflake was nearly as tired after the holiday as he had been during the rush leading up to it.

He had been laying out freshly washed dish towels and house linens to dry a few days later when Bunny emerged from his rest, stretching and looking bedraggled but content. Snowflake desperately wanted to laugh at the way his fur was sticking out in every direction, which meant that it was a perfect excuse to dig out the seldom used brush he had found in the bottom of the linen closet.

He had already detangled and cleaned what he could of Bunny's fur while the other slept, getting brambles, leaves, and twigs cleaned out, but he hadn't been able to properly brush the Pooka while he was curled in his nest asleep. The Pooka's wide eyed look when Snowflake emerged with the hairbrush was something that made mirth well up in the snow sprite, and yet all he could do to express his humor was grin.

He was practically bursting with energy when he managed to get the rabbit to sit down to be groomed, though Bunny wouldn't stop twitching. It was endearingly cute, and enough to make Snowflake just want to cuddle the other.

Snowflake stopped mid brush stroke as he realized what he was thinking, taking a deep breath and blushing thick frost across his features.

“Something wrong Snowflake?” the Pooka asked, and the sprite in question managed to shake his head before continuing brushing the Pooka's fur out. The longer fur on the rabbit's back, and the fluffier tufts on his shoulders and at the back of his neck were relatively easy to sort out, and Snowflake didn't dare go any further, instead giving the brush to Bunny before darting off to find somewhere further away to think about this.

“I'll make leek soup for dinner,” Bunny called after him, and he half turned and waved at the Pooka with a grin before continuing on his flight.

He wasn't sure he was going to be able to bring himself to return to the Burrow to eat, but he had a fierce desire not to disappoint Bunny.

He really didn't want to disappoint his host, but he was also about three inches from panicking as he realized that he really wanted to be close to the other being, much closer than he had ever wanted to be to anyone. He had never had the choice before, and the idea of being so close to another being was terrifying, and exhilarating at the same time. Snowflake was horrified at his own responses to the rabbit, the way he wanted to stay close to the other even though it was obviously a bad idea.

The thought of willingly doing what he was scared of, even fleeting as it was in his mind, was enough to have him fleeing. He still wasn't sure how to leave the Warren though, having been here for an entire year already. Sure there were openings to the surface world scattered here and there, but Snowflake had played with them already out of curiosity and to see what would happen if he tried to hop through them. They only let sunshine and weather in, nothing else, in or out.

Which was both relaxing, and scary. Relaxing because nothing here had hurt him yet, not the sentinels, the googies, or their Guardian. There was nothing in the Warren that had hurt him or seemed likely to. Scary because he didn't know how to leave, how to flee in case Bunny realized what Snowflake was and tried to take the same thing that so many others had taken from him.

It was confusing, and frightening, to realize that he wanted to be close to the other, to be vulnerable to the other. There was some small part of him that insisted to his rational mind that even if Bunny knew what he was, and wanted to take what others had taken, he would stop if Snowflake made it clear that he didn't want to give that.

Shuddering, and sighing, Snowflake found a small cave far away from the Burrow, and sitting against the stone wall, buried his head in his arms. He was scared, and excited, and he wished more than ever that he could ask someone he trusted, Bunny, what to do. Even if he could make himself understood right now though, he doubted he would ever have the courage to ask for advice from the Pooka, about the Pooka.

* * *

Aster watched the wind blowing through the grass in the direction that Snowflake had run off in, wondering if he should follow the boy to make sure nothing was wrong. Of course the fact that Snowflake was honestly adorable with the strange but cute way he blushed, the frost sparkling across his cheeks and fluffing the edges of his hair out.

Still, Aster didn't want to crowd the boy if he needed space for some reason, and from the way the boy had all but run away, he definitely wanted space for some reason. The Pooka had no idea what the boy was thinking, but he rather hoped that it was at least somewhat complimentary to the slob that he had been grooming when he suddenly blushed. Aster hadn't been sure exactly what the sudden feel of cold air behind him had meant, but when he turned and saw the sparkling frost on Snowflake's cheeks he had been rather more delighted than he should have been.

His prospective mate was grooming him, and it was doing something delightful to his nerves and instincts, even though he was mostly certain that the snow sprite didn't mean his ministrations that way at all.

Sighing, Aster grinned at the old brush, wondering when Snowflake had dug it out at all. He had a grooming kit stashed somewhere near one of the clear rivers where he usually bathed, but he didn't bother digging it out more than once every few years or so. It wasn't like he’d had anyone to impress for a long time, he didn't much care what the other Guardians thought of how he looked, and the human sprogs expected a wild rabbit so it hadn't been an issue.

Snowflake was interested in how he looked though, grooming him. It had been simply amazing to feel the brush carefully working through the tangled mess that was the fur on Aster's back, and when the knots were out and the fur smooth, the brush pressing against his skin with just the right amount of pressure, well Aster was fairly surprised he hadn't melted on the snow sprite.

“Right, leek soup now, proper grooming to impress Snowflake later,” He muttered to himself, heading inside to his kitchen.

* * *

Bunny had to have noticed how skittish Snowflake was being, but the Pooka hadn't said anything yet to the flighty sprite. Snowflake had started waiting until Bunny was out of the Burrow to head inside and get his meals. He had started waiting until Bunny went inside to sleep before following a short time later again.

It was strange, but the rest of spring passed otherwise unremarkably. There was still a great deal to get done, seeds to be planted and readied, weeding to be done at all times due to the fact that everything flourished in the Warren, especially the weeds. That part was much easier for Snowflake than Bunny realized, and at the same time harder too. Frozen plants were fairly easy to pull out of warm soil, but the trick was freezing the plant and not the soil at all.

It took practice, and seemed to hone Snowflake's abilities even better than just using his frost to kill the weeds. Keeping his frost separate from Bunny's warmth was a test of his skills, though one he was always getting better at.

When spring gave way to summer, and he found himself with less and less to do, since it was all pretty much done already, Snowflake began to sleep more to fill the time. Most often he would drop off near wherever Bunny was working.

If the Pooka was painting something, Snowflake would lay in the grass nearby and doze. If Bunny needed to do more repairs on any of his sentinels, the sprite would lounge on whatever rocks or tree stumps were nearby. As long as Bunny was nearby, his terrors didn't visit in his sleep, because he was certain that the other would protect him.

Even as skittish as he felt, there was a trust for Bunny that still scared him sometimes. But as the summer wore on, he found himself feeling lethargic and relaxed in a way he simply hadn't noticed the year before, and he had always been too busy to indulge when he was trying to stay away from malicious spirits.

It felt very nice to lounge near the other and simply rest, no need to be on his guard or trying to hide. He had even set aside his cloaks, despite the nervousness of being seen that had been instilled in him after so long.

He just felt so good.

Although that part didn't change as summer changed to autumn, the lethargy that had put him to sleep anywhere in the Warren that Bunny was faded quickly and completely, a sort of nervous energy replacing it. A nervous energy that caused problems, no matter how tightly Snowflake gripped his power.

* * *

Aster couldn't help but notice when Snowflake started acting skittish again, staying deliberately outside of touching range but not backing away if Aster reached for him. It was confusing, and at the same time made Aster glad that the boy hadn't regressed enough that he was skittering away from the Pooka when Aster needed to be near him. It was nothing like the first few weeks the snow sprite had been in the Warren, skittish and scared of almost everything, yet warily curious.

Instead, the boy was still curious, and easily distracted by things that Aster found commonplace, which made it a delight to be anywhere near him. At any given time, although the boy was still skittish about getting too close to Aster, he would be distracted by the googies, or the sentinels, or a butterfly, or something just so ordinary that it made the Pooka chuckle.

It was rather endearing, how much the boy seemed to focus on and actually enjoy every little thing, even if he was being more skittish after Easter than he had been before the holiday. That seemed to change as the season progressed though, Snowflake falling asleep more and more as the summer time asserted itself. With most of the chores around the Warren finished for the most part, the only thing they needed to keep up on was weeding and watering, and even that only needed to be done every few days at the most, so Aster didn't think very much about it.

Snowflake feeling tired and wanting to take time to rest up made sense, and was something that the Pooka could identify with considering that he took the summer months for his non-Easter related hobbies. When the boy seemed to sleep through almost three solid weeks though, barely rousing long enough to follow Aster as he worked on his own projects, the Pooka began to get a little worried.

It just didn't seem right, and though the boy had seemed tired the year before, he had also been a lot more tense so Aster wasn't sure he would have seen the boy fighting to stay awake or drowsing off out of sight. Considering that for those first few months, every time the boy drowsed off there was something frozen, Aster had been watching.

Thankfully that wasn't a problem this year, but Aster did try to ask if the boy was doing okay, and only got a smile and a nod in answer. He was hoping that since Snowflake was a seasonal spirit, then he would start returning to what Aster thought of as normal when summer ended.

Of course, the fact that the boy sitting still and sleeping left Aster ample opportunities to circle him and smell the scent of his claim on the boy wasn't something he could bring himself to complain about, or admit to. He still felt incredibly guilty about having scent marked the winter spirit, but there was just something so alluring about the boy, and as Snowflake relaxed and exhibited signs of being in better health, Aster's instincts were telling him the boy was ready to make their pairing official. He resolutely ignored those instincts, and told them to stuff it when he caught them poking at his libido. He was a Pooka, which was surprisingly close genetically to earth's rabbits, so with a potential mate so close, celibacy was driving him insane.

He would survive it though, especially when Snowflake was up and more active instead of dozing off all the time, trusting and relaxing around Aster.

Although the change of season did indeed herald a change in the sprite, it definitely wasn't the one that Aster had been expecting. Where the boy had been lethargic in the summer, he was positively vibrating with energy as autumn asserted itself in the world outside of the Warren. It was less that the Warren didn't follow the same seasonal schedule as the rest of the world, but that it was always spring in the Warren, so there were always plants just starting and flowers blooming. The fact that fall started to follow the snow sprite around no matter how much the boy was obviously trying to control himself was alarming.

The boy was leaving patches of frost everywhere, and all the plants, which were supposed to be in perpetual spring, were taking that as a chance to wither and settle in for a winter of sleep. A winter that was not supposed to happen in the Warren, although Aster didn't say as much to his snow sprite guest. Snowflake was looking more and more forlorn every time his power escaped his control even the littlest bit, and Aster really didn't want to make that even worse.

He was ignoring another patch of frost with a small frown when Snowflake grabbed his arm, a serious look on the sprite's face.

“What's up, Snowflake?” Aster asked, wondering why the energetic sprite was coming to him now when he had been skittish again for the last few days. Snowflake dragged him towards one of the exit tunnels, normally sealed, and Aster frowned, as the boy insistently pointed at it with his staff.

He was wearing the eyesore cloak today, the one he had only worn when Aster took him outside the Warren, and there was a very insistent look in his eyes as he motioned to the tunnel, all of which added up to a sinking feeling in Aster's belly.

“You want me to go get something for you?” he asked, hoping that it was just something so innocuous instead of what he feared.

He sighed when the boy shook his head, before once more gesturing at the tunnel, and felt his ears droop back and his shoulders sag as he realized it wouldn't be so easy.

“You want to leave the Warren.”

Snowflake nodded, although he didn't look very happy about it himself, slumping his shoulders and setting the butt of his staff down so he could lean against it in that way that made Aster think that the boy treated gravity like something that just didn't apply to him.

“If its about the frost lately, and your power being less under control, its okay. You don't need to leave...” Aster started, only to be cut off as the boy sighed and shook his head. Once he was certain that Aster was looking, he closed his eyes, holding out his staff, and when Aster looked closely, there was magic crackling over every millimeter of it, wild and untamed and so full of energy that it made the Pooka realize exactly how much the snow sprite was holding back.

“Right. You need to blow off some energy. Hold on a mo',” he stated, turning and dashing for the nearest grove of trees. He wouldn't do this for just any one, and he certainly hadn't done it for any of the Guardians, but he wanted Snowflake to be safe.

The magic of the Warren meant he could have done this with just about any plant, but using grass or flowers tended to result in a spell that didn't last very long, and he wanted this option to be open to Snowflake for as long as possible. Reaching with his magic into a particularly strong tree, he directed it into a seed and rushed back to where the frost spirit was waiting for him. He didn't usually use his magic this way, calling a seed out of season, or growing a plant from scratch for what he was about to do, but Snowflake was special.

When he got back to where Snowflake was waiting, he planted the seed in the ground, and focused hard for several moments, tying the plant to the Warren's defenses before urging it to grow, strong and spry. When the small sapling was about waist height, one of the small branches swelled, growing like a fruit almost before a flat, disk-like bit of wood dropped off, right into Aster's paw.

“There she is,” Aster said, grinning proudly as he checked that the token was linked properly to the Warren and to Snowflake's magical signature. “With this you'll be able to get back into the Warren whenever you need to. Keep it with you, yeah? Its also tied directly to you, instead of just to the Warren. If you find yourself in a scrape and need help, break it, and I'll be there in a jiff.”

The Pooka was justifiably proud of the creation, but even more so of the look of awe and joy on the snow sprite's face as he accepted the token. Snowflake grinned brightly as he realized that there was a relief of a rabbit on one side, and a complicated snowflake on the other, and his pale fingers curled around it, holding it to the boy's chest as he looked at Aster, gratitude in his features.

“Well, go on. Give it a try,” Aster said, though his throat threatened to close as he was telling the boy to test out his ability to leave the Pooka behind.

Snowflake nodded, and turned towards the tunnel, taking several eager steps forward, leaving a small trail of frost, before abruptly turning around and racing straight for Aster.

The Pooka didn't react for several moments after Snowflake threw his arms around Aster, hugging him tightly before once more making a dash for the tunnel.

Aster was still standing there, partially stunned an hour later, half hoping that Snowflake would come home already, before he shook himself out of his melancholy. There was more that needed to be done around the Warren to make sure that everything was on schedule for the upcoming Easter.


	6. Chapter 6

The clouds moved to the will of the wind, and the wind moved to the will of the Elemental herding the sky. Snowflakes fell fat and heavy under the clouds, landing to create a fluffy, soft bed of white over the land. Frost and ice covered the water, the trees long ago having lost their fall foliage.

Snowflake had had a hand in that, painting the leaves and living things with frost and watching them ripen sweetly. He had enjoyed himself, releasing his strength and power, and all the built up energy that he hadn't had in so long. He wasn't vibrating any more at least, he had spent enough energy that he could stand still. He hadn't stood still in so long, but he felt more stable spreading the power he had through the winter.

It felt right, and he felt happy and strong, stronger than he had felt in a very, very long time. He still wore the plaid cloak he had made for himself in the Warren, the bright, eye searing colors enough to ward anyone sane from speaking with him, although it hadn't stopped Bunny's friend, the mute little man made of sand, from bouncing all around Snowflake one day, clapping his hands excitedly.

Snowflake had been too shy to stay around for long, though he had watched the dreamweaver for the next few nights, curious about what he was doing and why his glowing golden sand went to every child, every night.

The little man had turned and waved to him a few times, making Snowflake skitter away, but it had been fun to watch him, and although he was nervous around the diminutive man made of sand, Snowflake also felt fairly confident, based on his association with Bunny at least, that the sand man wouldn't try to hurt him. That made him curious, and after a few weeks, he decided to look for Bunny's other friends, the bird woman and the enormous man in red.

The man in red was easy enough to find, rumors of the Santa Claus leading him north, and it was little trouble to find the enormous workshop that belonged to him. There were all manner of creatures running around making things, old fashioned toys and modern marvels. It was fascinating, though Snowflake couldn't actually get into the workshop itself.

Oh he could have, given time, especially as well rested as he was, but between the way the wards around the building made the short hairs on his neck stand up, and exactly how many spirits were present, he didn't want to draw attention to himself.

Instead he watched for a little while, occasionally returning to watch again when he grew frustrated trying to find Bunny's other companion.

The winged, feathered woman who had visited at the same time as the sand man and the man in red, proved elusive to find.

For now though, that was alright, and he was content watching the sand man and the other, the Santa Claus. It was nearing mid-winter when the frenzy at the Workshop increased, and Snowflake lingered for a few days, so was nearby to see the Sleigh. He didn't consider himself easily drawn to new things, but this, oh _this_ , was amazing.

The bright red sleigh actually flew, and there were reindeer pulling it. Real, _flying_ reindeer. Snowflake followed the man at a distance far enough away not to be seen, curious about what all he was doing and if he really delivered presents to everyone in the world, and how would he have time?

He certainly wasn't close enough to see the details, but his wind kept him near enough to keep track of the Santa, and much to Snowflake's delight, he did indeed deliver presents all over the world. His excitement definitely showed, and everywhere the sleigh passed through there was enough snow dusting the world to leave everything sparkling and perfect for snowball fights on Christmas morning.

* * *

Aster wasn't usually one to keep close track of time, outside of knowing when his Holiday was coming up. Time passed, and in the Warren none of it had any meaning because it was always eternal spring, his time and his power. If he really needed to know what was going on in the rest of the world, he could, and usually did, pop outside and check what was going on.

He also usually spent a lot of his 'off season' time out looking for new plants, new colors, and new designs for his Easter googies, although that had been abandoned in the face of Snowflake's need the last few years.

Which meant that maybe it wasn't as surprising as it should be that he was counting down the days and hours since Snowflake left, anxious about the snow sprite, worrying if he was okay, or if he had gotten into trouble again like the Trolls that Aster had rescued him from initially.

It was driving him fairly insane, trying not to worry while worrying so much, and there was nothing he could do to get his mind off of it. Looking around, and adding up days, Aster decided to open up one of his tunnels. He wasn't much thinking about where he was going, but when he popped up into frozen air, the cold wind blowing snow all about and the bright sunshine brilliantly illuminating North's Workshop, he knew he really needed someone to talk to.

It didn't take him long to get to the front door, though he was cursing his own paws by the time he arrived. It didn't take him very long to find North, who was doing his own set of wind down after Christmas.

“Bloody Hell you old coot, is that what you do to unwind around here?” he asked, grinning fondly as he stood in the doorway, watching North work on one of his magnificent ice sculptures. This one seemed to be a complete and whimsical representation of an old Russian city, with fantastical architecture and impossible creations.

“Da! Is there another way to relax?” North said, a full-bellied laugh escaping the enormous man, and Aster had to chuckle at him.

“Oh, I dunno, painting my googies usually helps me,” the Easter Bunny let out a forlorn sigh, dwelling on painting while Snowflake was nearby, safe and under his thoughtful gaze. It just wasn't the same anymore, being by himself, which made absolutely no sense at all. Snowflake had only been there for two Easters. Well, an Easter and a half at least, two years still or close to it. He had been the Easter Bunny for over three hundred years, so two years should have been the blink of an eye.

Hell, he had been kicking around on Earth since before Orbital Bombardment, so really, he should not have gotten so accustomed to the company of one little winter spirit so fast.

“Is not doing good job right now, I take it?” North interrupted his thoughts, a hand on Aster's shoulder, and when had the giant man even moved let alone gotten close enough to the Pooka for that? “Come my friend, I have just the thing!”

“North, if I wasn't so bloody out of sorts I would run for the hills.”

“Bah! But out of sorts you are, so is time for traditional разбойник remedy!” North was bellowing now, and Aster's ears were pinned to his head, even as he let his friend guide him into a comfortable gathering room, the one that the Guardians usually lingered in if they came to the Workshop.

When he put the mug in Aster's paws, the Pooka knew better than to check what was in it, although the scent of the alcohol was strongly masked by the taste of apples. Aster nursed the first mug through North setting up an old Janggi board. The game was similar to the western chess, but different enough to be something new. After seven or eight thousand games of chess, something new was good.

Especially while drunk.

Aster let North ramble on a little bit, finishing his second mug, before he began to talk. By this point he was fuzzy enough that he didn't pay much attention to what he was talking about, but it apparently amused North, who had his own mug by this point.

“Oh my friend... you have got it bad, and so early in relationship!” North finally bellowed, and Aster worked hard for several moments to back track his train of thought, wondering what he had been talking about.

Right, Snowflake. He hadn't heard from Snowflake since he left early autumn.

“Ye don have to be so bloody smug about it...” he grumbled into his cup, before finishing it and pouring himself more of whatever they were drinking now.

“Well, is lucky for you I am so smug, otherwise I would not tell you about little eyesore shadow following me around this last Christmas!” the old Cassock’s laughter was rolling freely with his words, and Aster nearly knocked over the Janggi board as he sprung towards the other.

“Yev seen Snowflake? Why dint you say anything you bloody wanker!” he demanded, trying to fist his paw in North's shirt, much to the other Holiday spirit's amusement.

“Because until you mentioned his cloaks, I did not realize who little snow sprite shadow was. I was thinking it was strange though, because I do not usually get snow sprites so accommodating to bring White Christmas!”

“Dun mean you shouln mention him! I've bin so worried about Snowflake, and yev seen him and I haven and its not fair!” Aster said, leaning against the human spirit and hiccuping. He usually handled his liquor much better, but he did not like not having Snowflake around. “Bloody little wanka 'as been worrying me by not visiting.”

“Oh Bunny, you are so obvious. Come, we will finish game, and I will tell you about neon plaid cloaked spirit who followed me around on Christmas leaving snow for all of the children of the world!” North said, with a booming laugh. “Come to think of it, cloak pattern looked vaguely familiar, but did not know why! Now am knowing Bunny needs more sheets!”

“Don't you dare you bloody wanka! I dun use the damn things most of th’ time as it is!”

* * *

The winter would be winding to a close soon, the frozen season almost over, so Snowflake was enjoying playing with the groups of human children while he still could. It was during a particularly large snowball fight that his troubles seemed to find him again.

As annoying as it was, it had been almost all winter since he had been hunted down, which was far less attacks than he was used to. He heard them first, which gave him time to dart away from the human children and the town they were in. When he reached the shelter of the nearby trees though, they stepped out, two satyrs launching their attacks at the same time.

The thorn whips tried to catch his legs or arms, but it was easier than Snowflake remembered to dodge, sidestepping and twisting midair to keep the thorn covered vines from wrapping around him. Both satyrs let out viscous curses, before one of them grinned, and Snowflake barely had a moment to worry before something had hold of his ankle and was slamming him into the ground.

He was dazed, and it took a few precious seconds for him to roll away from where he landed, bringing his staff up to slam into the face of the six foot tall creature that had grabbed him out of the air. Not that it did much good, the man simply catching his staff and lifting it up into the air, despite Snowflake still dangling off of it.

“You're right, he does smell fertile,” the being stated, grinning widely, his cow tail swishing around his legs, before he frowned, taking another deep sniff. “He also smells marked.”

“Marked but not claimed, means he's still fair game. Besides, if whoever marked him couldn't hold onto him, that's all to our gain,” the darker furred satyr stated, making the taller being snort.

Snowflake growled, bringing up his feet to push off of the chest of the one holding his staff to wrench the shepherds crook out of the tall ones hands. After that it only took a moment for him to twist in mid air and cover the satyr who had spoken in ice, though it was only along one side of his body.

It was enough to make his companion, a lighter brown satyr with similar enough features to be a sibling, howl in rage, lashing his thorny whip at Snowflake ruthlessly, and carelessly. The snow sprite grinned, jumping back with enough agility to evade the attack and the reflexive grab from the much taller fae being as well.

“Catch him! Karl don't you dare let him escape!” The dark furred satyr howled, and Snowflake danced around, dodging behind the taller one intent to knock him from behind, only to be startled by the gaping hole in his back, that looked like the clean inside of a hollow tree. It was a huldra, or rather a male huldrekari, which was weird. Snowflake had never seen any huldra outside of a forest in Europe, let alone on this continent.

The huldrekari didn't turn around to face Snowflake though, shaking his head and growling himself, “not going to steal someone else's mate,” before walking away.

Snowflake didn't question it then, but later, when the two summer spirits had been frozen together to a tree and left behind to wait for the spring time thaw, he wondered exactly what the huldrekari had meant by his words. Someone else's mate, and before that he had said something about marked. It couldn't have been his master, that bitch was long dead, a hundred years gone burned to ashes, though the spells binding him hadn't faded.

None of his master's clients had ever objected to using him, even when it had become clear he was damaged, and in the years since the old witch had died those seeking to possess him had never balked either, so what had changed?

Snowflake sat up so abruptly he almost fell off of the branch he had been laying on, eyes wide and startled even as Sandy's bright gold dream sand started to brighten up the early night air. The only thing that was different this time from any of the other times he had been hunted, was that he had been in Bunny's Warren for over a year. Had the Pooka marked him somehow that he hadn't noticed?

That seemed likely, but why would the other mark him as his mate but not force him to perform? What did Bunny hope to gain, by marking him, but not making him do that? And why had Bunny marked him in the first place if he wasn't going to make Snowflake do that? Fingering the wooden medallion that Bunny had given him in the fall, a promise to return if he ever wanted, Snowflake tried to figure out what it meant.

He had already memorized the feeling of every bit of the medallion, the intricate snowflake on one side, with the simple rabbit on the other. Rather than risk loosing it, he had taken a swatch of cloth from his cloak and sewn a pocket to the inside of his shirt, keeping the wooden token secure there unless he was holding it. No matter how deep into winter it had gotten, or how cold the storms and snows Snowflake had played in, the medallion had always been warm to his hands, comforting for the promise that Bunny had given him.

He was always welcome back, and Bunny would come to his aid if he had to break it. He had spent most of his resting time, between storms and snowball fights, thinking about Bunny's words, wondering what the Pooka had meant. He had been hesitant to return to the Warren, even though Bunny had made it sound like he would be welcome, but spring was on its way, and his duty was essentially done. One more month, maybe two, remained of Winter, and that was only if he struggled to hold on.

Sometimes he did, because it felt right, but this year, it didn't. He wasn't really needed any more, so maybe it was time to pay Bunny a visit, and find out exactly what was between the two of them.

* * *

Easter preparations were coming along smoothly, only four weeks out from the big day. Plants had been well taken care of and tended, and Aster was watering the latest bunch to make sure that there would be plenty of googies available on his big day. Oh it was still hard to focus without Snowflake there to help him, but he had been doing this job for a long time already, and letting his body and magic go through the motions without his mind helping wasn't such a big deal.

Of course, he had fallen behind somehow, even without making sure to take breaks for Snowflake. In fact, he hadn't taken a break in quite a while. He had probably eaten something last week, and he was sure he had slept some time before that, yes right after drinking at North's. Of course, he had over slept then, a week long drinking binge should not have been followed by two weeks asleep, but he had gotten back on track.

And now he was falling behind. Not much mind, and even if he fell a little more behind it wouldn't affect most of the googies anyways, he would still have more than enough for Easter. But the frantic work pace kept his mind off of Snowflake, his Snowflake, the boy with the angelic smile and the white hair and that crook ended staff and now Aster knew he was hallucinating, because he could have sworn that Snowflake was standing in front of him, that horrid plaid cloak and all.

Just like that the boy would gather him up and lead him by paw into the Burrow, and better into the nest room, but he hadn't been sleeping well since Snowflake left, even if North said he had been fine at Christmas. Sinking down into the nest, he wrapped his arms around his hallucination, willing to hold onto that much at least before his duties called him back to work in the morning.

There was still too much to do to take much of a break, and he needed to get the last batch of googies planted and growing, and to keep the weeds away from his precious googie plants, and to nuzzle his mate right there. That was nice, and cool fingers stroking through his fur was enough to lull him to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, Not MUCH trouble, but still :3
> 
> Also! Sorry about taking so long to get this up. Real Life is a draining and life stealing thing :P


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :3 sorry it took so long.

Morning came all too soon, and Aster found himself sitting bolt upright in his nest, alone, save for a cool spot next to him that could all too easily have been holding a certain snow sprite not long ago. Groaning, he flopped back down, wondering how long he had actually slept, and how far behind on Easter preparations he was now.

He could have sworn that he had seen Snowflake the night before, that the winter spirit had led him to his nest and put him to bed, cuddling close with his own satisfied sigh at being home. It was frustrating, and sad, and he didn't want to get up and face the Warren without Snowflake there, but he couldn't stay in his nest all day and do nothing, not this close to Easter at least.

Maybe after, he would indulge in a fit of depression and lay in his nest for a few weeks, but until then, he had his duty. Groaning once more, he managed to pull himself to his feet, awkwardly stumbling towards the kitchen to get a drink.

Where he found a pitcher of water, with melting frost on the outside, and a tall stack of sandwiches. 

He definitely had not set out any sandwiches for himself, and he didn't have the ability to frost a pitcher of water for himself. Excitement coursing through him, he darted out of the Burrow, a look of joy on his face when he quickly found Snowflake watering the fields his way, frosting the surface and letting it melt.

He resisted, just barely, the impulse to run directly up to the sprite and gather him into a tight embrace, certain that would scare the boy away if he moved too fast. He didn't go slowly either though, walking up to the snow sprite, who turned to look at him with uncertainty on his features.

Aster was very careful about reaching out to Snowflake, and very gentle as he pulled him into a light hug, breathing a sigh of relief at the feeling that his mate was home safe, even though Snowflake wasn't his mate yet.

“I was right worried about you,” he said softly, breathing in the familiar, winter floral scent that was all the boy's as well as wincing as he realize that he must have refreshed the scent mark when Snowflake tucked him in the night before. On the bright side, Snowflake hadn't complained about it yet, but on the down side, he was beginning to think that Snowflake didn't realize it was there.

He relaxed into the hug when he felt Snowflake's arms wrap around him and squeeze, before the snow sprite gently pushed him away, a wide grin on his wild features. The Pooka chuckled as Snowflake pushed him back towards the Burrow, marching him inside and sitting him down at the table, and Aster eyed the boy shrewdly as he sat.

Snowflake stared at him, his hands on his hips and his eyebrows raised in an expectant manner, and Aster couldn't help but grin in reply.

“I don't suppose you've already eaten? Not so much to do that we can't take a mo' to enjoy a simple meal, honestly,” Aster stated, and it was true now that Snowflake was here. All of his urgency had bled away like ink in a fast-flowing stream.

Snowflake looked wary for a moment, before there was a slight gurgling sound from the region of his belly. Aster couldn't help but laugh at the sheepish look on Snowflake's face then, even though the boy was now scowling at him, before sitting down in Aster's other chair and grabbing a sandwich. He didn't bite into it until Aster grabbed one for himself, but that was alright, it just meant that they could enjoy their meal together.

* * *

Bunny had been worried. More specifically, Bunny had been worried about _him_ , because he had stayed away. Bunny had been so worried he apparently couldn't remember how to take care of himself, the dumb rabbit.

Snowflake could barely believe the mess he had found when he got into the Warren and found Bunny. Oh, his Easter preparations were going well enough, but the rabbit was gaunt and his fur was tangled all over with bits of dirt and twigs stuck everywhere there weren't brambles and burrs. He had taken some time after he woke up to get the worst of it out, but Bunny was in desperate need of a thorough cleaning. Honestly, how could he expect to take care of anything, _especially_ Easter, if he didn't take care of himself?

Snowflake shook his head in wonder as he frosted the next field, letting the ambient warmth of the Warren seep into his magic and his skin. For all that he had been nervous coming back, and he needed to find some way to ask Bunny about what the huldrekari had said, he felt comfortable here. It was just as safe as he remembered, and for all that Bunny had made him just a little uncomfortable with that hug, he hadn't felt threatened at all.

Bunny hadn't approached him again, though Snowflake was making sure he ate a few times a day, by the simple expedient of bringing food to the Pooka and staring at him until he ate. The fact that Bunny wouldn't eat until he was eating too was a bit of a stalemate, but one that Snowflake could easily live with.

When Easter rolled around, Snowflake once more followed Bunny, watching and enjoying the sight of the Pooka setting out his treats and the delight that the children took in finding them that day. Snowflake made sure that Bunny stayed to watch, though it wasn't in the same place as the year before, and there wasn't another close call with the children seeing the giant rabbit.

Things slowed down after that, Bunny simply relaxing, while Snowflake took over and started making sure that the Pooka was taking proper care of himself. That meant that when Bunny woke up, a week after Easter, Snowflake was ready and waiting with combs and brushes to get the Pooka presentable again. It was a little bit awkward, grooming him, but Bunny was a surprisingly good sport about allowing Snowflake to clean him up.

* * *

Aster wasn't sure how he felt about the interest Snowflake had taken in his home. On the one hand, his instincts were delighted. His mate, well, potential mate, was cleaning things, cycling through what laundry was in the Burrow to make sure it was all fresh, keeping dirt and dust outside where it apparently belonged if the way the boy wielded a broom meant anything, and making certain that the dishes stayed clean and well organized.

He was a lot more conflicted about how the boy had sat him down a week after Easter and actually groomed him completely, brushing out every tangle of fur from the Pooka's head to his knees, excepting the groin, in a business-like fashion. Grooming was good, it meant his mate was showing interest and was receptive to being mated.

On the other hand, Snowflake was a human spirit, with all that implied, and how could he possibly know about Pooka courting rituals, let alone follow them so completely? _Animal spirits_ didn't know about Pooka courting rituals.

Snowflake was also still fairly skittish any time Aster tried to hug him or came up to him too quickly, which made the Easter Bunny worried about taking the physical part of their relationship any further. El-Ahrairah knew he wanted to, but Snowflake got skittish sometimes, and it was better to take things slow than to scare his mate away.

* * *

Warm golden light put children all over the world to sleep, and Sandy waved at a certain bright-eyed winter sprite, grinning brightly as the hooded figure waved back at him. He still wasn't quite sure why the boy insisted on wearing a cloak, but he rather thought that the bright, nearly eye-searing colors were very fetching. Just the right amount of 'I don't care' without being overdone.

That and it looked almost like a set of bed sheets. Sandy quite liked bed sheets considering that they reminded him of sleep, which was something he did quite well.

He was so happy that Bunny had finally found someone to love, someone who even seemed to be courting him back, by all accounts. It was so much fun to listen to the Pooka talking about all the time he spent with Snowflake, and all the things Snowflake was doing, and the pranks that the young snow sprite had started pulling. Bunny had been delighted every time Sandy checked up on him. Apparently, even though he was still sad that Snowflake was leaving early in the fall, Snowflake was coming back every few days to check on him.

Oh, at first Snowflake had been away for months at a time, and then it had dwindled, if the way that North spoke was any indication. He had been cheerful about Bunny not visiting as often because his alcohol reserves that the Pooka could tolerate were running low. With the Pooka only visiting one or two times a year instead of every few weeks to worry about Snowflake, things were much better.

Sandy grinned as he got an idea; it was a wonderful idea, and he hoped that North and Bunny would agree. Tooth definitely would, she had been so upset that Snowflake hadn't come to visit her at all, though the snow sprite hadn't exactly visited with any of them. A glimpse here and there was all they had seen of the child, but if Sandy had his way, they would be seeing a lot more of the boy soon.

Such a cheerful, bright-eyed youth should have been hanging out with all of them, especially with how Bunny seemed to be taking such an interest in him. It had been so long since Bunny had even interacted with spirits outside of their Guardian circle, let alone taking such an interest in anyone.

Shifting his sands into a long, oval shape, Sandy made his way north, soon dropping in at the Workshop with little fanfare. It wasn't hard to find North, and it didn't take long to outline his idea.

“Is wonderful idea my friend! Will take time to convince Bunny, but we should be able to have party shortly after midsummer! Boy has been known to leave in early fall, so will give us time after Bunny's busy time to convince him to come. Is a few weeks until Easter I think, so I will send messenger to Bunny next month. If I do not catch him while he is sleeping off his Easter work he will be more cheerful I think!”

Sandy grinned, shaking his head as North started making plans and wandered away from the dream sprite, forgetting about him for now. He decided to go tell Tooth the plan, and hopefully she would be as excited as North was.

* * *

“Absolutely not,” Aster growled, glaring at North like the man had suggested something rude instead of a simple get-to-know you party.

“Bunny! Is not good for boy to not socialize at all,” North stated, and Aster didn't even try to hold his curses back, letting them spill forth in every language he had, some modern, and some long dead, as well as everything in between. North patiently waited him out, standing like an imperturbable wall for all that Aster's angry words were having an effect on him.

“Come now friend, be reasonable. Boy cannot stay isolated much longer, and better a small group gathering of just friends than full scale Party. Will be better for the boy, and better for Bunny too, I think.”

“I hardly keep him cooped up against his will, you old coot,” Aster started, before being cut off by North's next words.

“But you do not encourage him to get out and make friends either! Is not healthy Bunny, and you know it. Is not fair to keep him all to yourself,” the old Cossack's words were true and hit a little too close to home, making Aster wince. “Bunny, is not accusation. I know you are fond of boy, but he needs other friends too.”

Well when North put it that way it made sense, but there was still something inside of Aster that insisted that until the deal was sealed letting others around his mate was a bad thing. Snowflake wasn't his mate yet, might never be his mate, but Aster very much wanted the boy to be his mate.

It wouldn't mean anything if he didn't give Snowflake more of a choice. It was just like letting Snowflake come and go from the Warren, if he didn't give the boy the option it would have been as bad as imprisoning him.

“Damnit you bastard. Give me a bit of time to convince the kid. He's still skittish,” Aster growled, not giving North a chance to respond, though he was certain the old bandit was smirking as the Pooka left. Just for that, Aster opened his tunnels right on one of North's precious hardwood floors, making sure it would leave a small bush when it closed up.

* * *

The first time Aster mentioned the idea of the party to Snowflake, the boy disappeared out of the Warren for a week. When he came back he was more tired and exhausted than ever, and when they slept that night Aster woke up with frost covering his fur and half of the nest room which was plenty of confirmation that Snowflake was anxious about even the idea of meeting the others. It took Aster another week to even get up the courage to mention it again, and thankfully Snowflake didn't bolt this time.

He did get skittish though, not letting Aster come too close except when he was falling asleep. It was something at least, and Aster cherished how it felt to be trusted by the delightful little snow sprite, but he also felt horrible about making the boy nervous. Snowflake let Aster tell him about the other Guardians, their jobs and their temperaments at least, without running off again, but he still looked nervous about it when he made it clear he was okay with attempting this party thing.

Aster had been idly chattering about Tooth and her bad habit of holding people's mouth's open to look at their teeth when Snowflake stopped him from talking by the simple expedient of placing one cool hand over Aster's mouth. The Pooka stayed silent as the boy pulled back, bright frost coating the boy's cheeks before he nodded solemnly.

“Does that mean you're willing to give meeting them a shot? I promise I can and will protect you, and that none of the other Guardians will make any move to harm you in any way,” Aster felt very confident making the promise, he knew his friends well.

He was sometimes annoyed by them, but he knew them well enough to know that they would never willingly hurt anyone who didn't try to hurt their charges or them first.

Snowflake nodded again, the solemn look on his face still and Aster couldn't stop the wry smile that lit his own features. “Thank you Snowflake. You wont regret this, I promise.”


	8. Chapter 8

Snowflake was already regretting letting Bunny talk him into this.

There was way too much noise and way too many creatures around, great fur covered people, most of whom had shaggy mustaches and how they managed to define that patch of fur over their mouths as mustaches he wasn't sure, but that was definitely what they had. They also weren't the only creatures around; tiny elves running to and fro and giving Snowflake odd looks out of the corners of their eyes. He didn't like them at all, there were too many of them and if he wasn't careful they could overpower him easily.

Snowflake stayed as close as he could to Bunny while still making sure he could defend himself without actually clinging to the Pooka. It was a fine balance to walk on his own but still be so close to the Pooka that he could practically taste the other’s fur. The only reason he couldn't feel it was that he had his favorite cloak on, the one that made Bunny cringe, so hopefully it would make the others cringe as well and decide to stay away.

“Bunny! Ah, and Snowflake! Is good you came!” the silver haired man as large as any of the Yeti charged forward, his arms spread like he was going to envelope Snowflake in a bone crushing hug and the snow sprite skipped back, making certain that Bunny was between him and North.

“Come on North, he's shy and you're a bear,” Bunny growled, holding his arms out to keep North from enveloping both of them in a hug.

“Bah! You are overprotective Bunny, and you are too shy. Come! Have set up small sitting room for party of just Guardians. Tooth is very excited, she has not seen Snowflake since that Easter when Snowflake came to stay with you,” North was saying, but Snowflake wasn't paying very much attention.

He was more worried about the fact that he didn't have a choice but to follow North and Bunny deeper into this chaotic place, through twisting halls and wide open work spaces until they came to a smaller room off one of the hallways. Smaller, but no less noisy as all the sounds of the workshop and the lives living in this fortress.

The tight grip inside of his chest lessened as they reached the sitting room, and Snowflake took the opportunity to scurry up to the rafters and perch far out of reach. Hopefully being out of sight would mean he was out of mind, because he needed to think.

He didn't get much time to think though, Sandy and Tooth were looking at him longingly and Bunny's fur was standing on end around his neck and shoulders, as well as a little down his back. It would have been very amusing, if Snowflake hadn't been so nervous himself. He didn't like watching Bunny up in hackles, not when he didn't feel comfortable finding some way to tease him, and in front of these strangers he was definitely not comfortable enough to relax and tease the Pooka.

Tug on his ears maybe, or poke him in the ticklish spots just above his hips.

Snowflake was listening carefully from where he sat on one of the ceiling support beams, warily watching the others. At least they seemed willing to give him his own space for now, which was more than he was expecting, but not nearly as much space as he wanted.

There were only a handful of them, but this was the first time he had been in a confined space with more than just Bunny since before the death of his Master.

She had liked his suffering when her customers ganged up on him, claiming it was fitting punishment because he wasn't very good at the only thing he had been created for. He shivered, not from being cold because it was actually quite warm, in fact almost too warm to be comfortable in his bright plaid cloak which he drew tightly around himself. No, he remembered the last time he had been in a confined room with half a dozen of his master’s customers.

His master had still been offering a reward to anyone who managed to breed him successfully, and memories of those 'contests' led deeper to other memories, painful memories of being with child and so disgusted, scared and unhappy that his own magic would reach inside to abort the lives within him.

He never had carried to term.

Something jewel bright and faster than he could easily track darted in front of his face, and he jerked back, focusing on the tiny creature hovering in front of his face. He tilted his head, startled but not feeling threatened by the tiny feminine creature, who looked like nothing more than a miniature version of Bunny's friend Tooth. A tiny golden cord acted as a belt, and the feathers on her feet and around her wrists were a dark blue instead of vibrant green, while one eye was pale blue and the other a light violet. Next to the violet eye was a tiny, almost unnoticeable mole, and for some reason seeing it at the corner of her right eye made him smile, just a little.

“Snowflake? Come on down here and introduce yourself?”

He looked down where Bunny was staring up at him, the fur of his shoulders and back still fluffed, and grinned nervously at the image presented. Snowflake took another moment to look over the other gathered Guardians, but since Bunny was the one that was asking, he didn't have it in himself to deny the Pooka.

Still he made sure to keep distance between himself and the others, too wary of being trapped to feel comfortable.

“These are my mates. Ye've already met them, but introductions wouldn't be out of place so, the quiet one is Sandy. He's the sandman, obviously. Tooth is the Tooth Fairy, she and her little sheilas gather up the teeth that human sprogs lose as they grow up. The big annoying one in red is North, sometimes known as Santa Claus. He's under the mistaken impression that Christmas is more important than Easter,” Bunny stated, waving at each Guardian in turn and throwing in a glare for good measure when he got to North.

Snowflake grinned brightly as North started sputtering, and it was fun listening to Tooth and the little one, Sheila, giggle. There were a few more smaller fairies like Sheila also hanging around Tooth, and when Jack grinned, they all kind of sighed and kind of drooped in the air, almost like they were going to fall. Thankfully none of them actually did, but it did startle the winter spirit.

Sandy moved closer to Snowflake, and the sprite focused on him, noting the odd expression on the sand mans face. It looked like something between worried and excited but not quite apprehensive.

When he saw Snowflake grinning at him, he smiled, though there was something not quite decipherable in his eyes before bouncing forward. Snowflake nearly panicked, jumping behind Bunny so that the Pooka was in between him and the sand man, but Sandy didn't approach closely, just started making shapes in the air above his head.

Shapes that puzzled Snowflake and seemed to make everyone else roll their eyes as North continued to rail about his holiday, and how it was better than Easter. That was enough to make Snowflake grin again as he listened in, not particularly interested in interfering with that conversation.

Still, he kept an eye on Sandy, watching his shapes curiously.

* * *

Aster sighed in relief at how well things seemed to be going even though his conversation with North had devolved once more into an argument about who's holiday was better.

Silly bloke, everyone knew Easter was better, and Aster did all of his work himself instead of relying on a large workforce.

Tooth was just laughing at them and refusing to take sides.

“Bah! We will continue discussion after dinner.”

“There is no discussion. Easter is better, hands down. Snowflake, back me up here?” He turned with a smile to his companion, mate, and found himself grinning at how intently the boy was watching Sandy's pantomimes.

It was actually kind of cute the way that the boy was staring so intently at Sandy, and the shooting star was staring back just as intently. The pale look on the boy's face beneath his hood when North clapped him on the shoulder was much less endearing.

As was the sudden layer of thick frost covering everything, including North's hand and the rafter that the boy was once more perched on.

“You bloody oaf!” Aster growled, glaring at North who stared at the swiftly melting frost on his shirt and hand in surprise. “Don't sneak up on him that way! Snowflake, y'right?”

He didn't jump into the rafters himself, though he could have with a bit of acrobatic effort, because he didn't think the boy would appreciate anyone in his space right now. There was a wild look in his blue eyes and Aster felt his ears press to his head as he wondered if the snow spirit was going to be alright.

It was all background noise, Tooth admonishing North about something to do with shy birds and he saw Sandy's glow out of the corner of his eye, a few shades darker gold than usual which meant that the former wishing star was pretty upset about something. Aster didn't much care at the moment, because his mate was upset and all he wanted to do was find a way to calm Snowflake down and protect him.

“Give a signal Snowflake, and we can leave right now. I can have us back to the Warren in five,” Aster said, drawing the panicking snow sprite's attention to himself, and causing everyone else in the room to fall silent. He was serious, he would take Snowflake and they would leave the North Pole behind and Aster would get his mate home that fast. It would take doing, and probably a cantrip on the tunnels to speed their way, but he would do it.

Being exhausted and laid out for a week afterward would be worth it to keep his mate safe and reassure Snowflake that the Pooka would do anything for him.

“You cannot leave yet! We have not had dinner!” North's protest didn't phase Aster at all, and the old Cossack would understand if the Pooka took Snowflake right now. Well, he would understand eventually.

But Snowflake had calmed down, and while he didn't look exactly happy, he didn't make any kind of motion toward leaving either.

Snowflake didn't come down until Tooth and Sandy chivvied North out of the room, but the moment they were alone Snowflake was hugging tightly to Aster, and the Pooka had a tight grip on the winter sprite. Aster could still hear North's protests from the hallway, but that mattered so little when he was holding his precious Snowflake.

“Seriously Snowflake, if you want to leave just let me know, okay?” Aster said quietly, looking into the snow sprite's eyes as he gave his reassurance. It earned him a watery smile and he sighed, tucking the sprite's head under his chin and holding him for a few more moments. “Alright then, lets get the rest of this party out of the way. I don't think North will protest if we leave after dinner at least.”

Snowflake nodded, and the grin he gave Aster as he pulled away was slightly less watery and more full of the boy's usual mischief.

Relocating to the dining room didn't take long after that, and Snowflake allowed himself to be settled in between Aster and Sandy with Tooth across from him and North across from Aster. He wasn't going to be participating that much in the conversation, not if Aster was any judge of things, but he seemed more comfortable further away from North rather than closer, and at least Tooth was behaving herself for now.

Honestly, Aster had expected Tooth to try to get a closer look at Snowflake's teeth, but for now she seemed to be keeping a respectable distance.

Two hours and three courses later, as they each finished off whatever version of desert they preferred (fruits for Tooth, pudding for Sandy, carrot cake for Bunny, and offerings of all that and more for Snowflake and North) the talk had come once more to the superiority of respective holidays.

“You old blowhard, Easter is clearly the better 'oliday! It signals the start of spring, the nearing of the end of the school year,” Aster was saying, making North guffaw because it was an argument he had already used at the party.

“I am telling you, Christmas is better! Toys and gifts!” North's reply made Aster grin because the old Cossack had already used it three times. “Bah! Snowflake, you like gifts, right? You must tell me what you want for Christmas this year! What is Snowflake boy's fondest wish?”

“North you drongo he hasn't...” Bunny started to respond, cranky that North would drag Snowflake into the conversation when he knew the snow sprite didn't talk, when he heard the most amazing sound.

Snowflake's voice.

“Safety.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heh... now that you've read this, go check out [Melian](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1161646) by Kayasurin. :3 its well worth it.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter fairly flew along! Let me know what you think!

He was too open, far to exposed with everyone looking at him, and all he wanted to do was burrow against Bunny and let the Pooka protect him. That might make Bunny a target though, if North thought that he would get in the way or in between Snowflake and whatever North wanted Snowflake to do. He wasn't going to get Bunny into trouble that way, not unless there was no other option at least.

If North started to try to take him physically instead of just making him miserable, he would definitely hide behind the Pooka.

“Snowflake?” Bunny's voice made Snowflake wince, but he looked to the Pooka anyways, scared of the reaction.

North had commanded him to tell his fondest wish, and the geas holding him obedient had forced him to answer. What he wanted above anything else was to be safe, something he had only had a taste of at Bunny's side.

So many what ifs and fears ran through his mind, but most of them were just variations of what would happen if Bunny rejected him or got angry with him.

“Snowflake? What do you mean safety?” Bunny asked, his voice quiet and calm, but he was worried. Snowflake could see it in his eyes, and he smiled at the Pooka, focusing on him instead of the threats in the room, namely North. Bunny would at least try to protect him.

“Not having to be scared,” he found himself answering, his voice scratchy from disuse but no longer bound by the command of silence that had held him so long.

He then clamped his mouth shut tightly, biting back the urge to babble and tell Bunny everything, partially because he didn't want the other to reject him when he found out what Snowflake was, but mostly because North and the others were still there.

“What are you afraid of?” Tooth asked, and Snowflake flinched, hunching down in his seat before turning his attention to the bright bird woman.

He had the choice to answer for now, but if he didn't would North command him to? He looked down, breathing deep and taking a deep gulp, flinching as North spoke up next, though it wasn't the command he expected.

“Please tell us? We wish to try to help,” The white haired spirit said, and Snowflake looked up in surprise. It was a request, and an offer to help that Snowflake was wary of but it seemed sincere.

Perhaps Bunny's friends were okay after all, even if North could command him. Well if the old man wasn't going to mention what Snowflake was, he certainly wasn't going to tell everyone, but the rest of it might be good to get off his chest.

“I'm afraid of getting hurt. I'm scared you'll hurt me,” his voice was quiet, barely a whisper and he ducked his head down again after he spoke, looking away from North. Mostly females had never bothered him, and Sandy seemed completely incapable of being threatening although Snowflake was still wary of him, but North was the scariest person here, and North could Command him.

“I would never!” North sounded horrified at the thought, and the others all sucked in a breath, or some variant therein in Sandy's case. Snowflake had a hard time believing North though, mostly because his master had said the same thing a lot in the beginning.

Even then it had been a lie.

“Snowflake? I know he's loud and kinda boisterous, but he would never hurt you. None of us would,” Tooth's words sounded calm, but Snowflake flinched anyways, kind of curling up into himself on his chair. He probably should believe them, they were Bunny's friends, but...

“I wanna go home...” the words slipped out quietly, before Snowflake even realized he was speaking, and he blushed brightly at them. The thought that he was thinking of the Warren as home shocked him when it hit a moment later, and he looked to Bunny, wondering if the other would still want him there or if he was going to be offended that Snowflake didn't trust his friends.

“Do you mean the Burrow?” Bunny asked, looking fairly uncertain about his words, but Snowflake nodded, more frost covering his cheeks as he looked away again. “Right, I'll take that as my signal then, lets go home.”

He wasn't shy about moving over to Snowflake and gathering the sprite up, and Snowflake found himself clinging to the Pooka much to the surprise of the others.

“We'll talk later,” was all the farewell that Bunny gave before carting Snowflake away, and though he felt bad about causing some kind of rift between the four friends, the sprite couldn't have been happier to leave.

* * *

The look on North's face was devastating, even just to see. With dinner essentially over, they had relocated back to the sitting room that was where the party started, and the way that North just fell into his chair was a little bit heartbreaking.

Sandy sighed, floating nervously by the window as he kept an eye on North. He was taking it very hard, the fact that Snowflake was so scared of him. Sandy had no idea why the boy was so much more afraid of North than himself and Tooth, but then again earth spirits confused him a lot.

It wasn't so hard to go with the flow and adapt to the new things that they did, but sometimes he just didn't understand why. He did however understand Snowflake's general fear, at least a little bit.

The boy was under some manner of curse, and one that Sandy just didn't recognize at all. Considering how old he was, it might very well be something he had forgotten over the years, but that didn't seem so likely because he usually had a very good memory even for things he would have rather forgotten.

Whatever spell was on the boy was powerful though, and something he obviously didn't like, perhaps something that had caused the base of fear that the boy lived in despite what he actually wanted. The boy's spirit was so bright, and his core so strong though, it was actually very aesthetically pleasing, giving Sandy a warm glow inside.

The boy was strong, probably stronger than he realized if how timid he was was anything to go by, and would make a wonderful match for Aster. It just made Sandy so happy to see his old friend, perhaps his oldest surviving friend, finally courting someone worthy.

Oh the Pooka had had a few flings in the past, but never anyone that Sandy had approved of and it had always ended badly.

“North, Bunny did warn us how timid Snowflake was. It's not your fault, he's just...” Tooth's words trailed off, and Sandy bought his attention back to the here and now instead of the what could be.

“Is still painful,” North sobbed, taking another long pull from a tall glass that smelled strongly of alcohol. It was probably vodka, since North tended to drink the stuff like water when the mood struck, not very often mind and usually when one of the others decided to drink. The old Cossack made one of the best drinking partners ever, always cheerful and ready with a strong shoulder to take on the cares and worries of his drinking partner if that was what was needed.

It was sad to see him as the one in need, but he had been there often enough for all of them that Sandy knew he couldn't leave his young friend to fend for himself in his depression.

Moving forward, he gave a solid hug to the much larger man before moving to settle down in a nearby chair, ready to listen and help North deal with a youth's fear of him.

* * *

The return trip to the Warren wasn't as fast as a mere five minutes, but being held tightly by his precious bundle was a feeling worth taking his time for, and appreciating. Snowflake certainly didn't complain, so Aster didn't hurry.

He had a feeling there would be plenty to either talk about or do when they got back to the Warren, if Snowflake was still feeling talkative that was. The sprite seemed withdrawn and uncertain even though Aster held him as tight as he dared. Too tight and he was scared the boy would panic, and try to get away, but too lose and Snowflake might think he didn't want him there.

The Pooka didn't like thinking about what might have happened to the boy to make his instinctive fear so great, it made him want to sample his own chocolates and hunt down whoever was responsible. The good chocolates, without all of the additives that made it almost useless to him.

“Do ye wanna rest?” he asked as they emerged into the Warren, heading for the Burrow anyways. Even if Snowflake didn't feel like resting he could set the boy up with a calming cuppa. He wasn't actually prepare for a response, not a verbal one at least, so the smooth, dulcet tone of the boy's quiet voice made him want to purr.

“Yes please,” Snowflake was so polite but it sounded good from him, and Aster found himself nuzzling the top of the boy's head as he crossed the threshold into the Burrow and headed for the nest.

It wasn't until he had set aside Snowflake's cloak and the boy had settled into the nest, curled up against Bunny where the Pooka sat, that he asked what was on his mind. Finding a tactful way to put it was the hard part, and as he contemplated wording, he let himself begin un-braiding the boy's silver hair.

“Do you want to talk?”

The boy's shy nod and the way that frost covered his cheeks had Aster smiling, a real smile instead of a smirk or a grin.

“I'll listen. I promise I'll always listen if you want to talk,” he stated, his vow heartfelt and sincere. Something in his voice made the boy turn in his lap to look up at him though, a question in bright blue eyes as the silence dragged on. “Would you like me to ask questions?” the answering nod was even more hesitant.

Aster smiled, his mind racing for a question that wouldn't make Snowflake regret talking to him. “Where are you from?” was what finally blurted out of his mouth and he could have kicked himself at the clouded look that came over Snowflake's face.

“I don't want to answer that,” he said, turning so that he was looking away from Aster though he didn't move to try to leave, something that the Pooka was grateful for.

“Why were you so quiet until the party?” Aster's second question was met with a biter smile but no protest, so he didn't push it.

“I couldn't talk. Every time I tried, it was like there was a hand gripping tightly around my throat. I couldn't get my voice past it,” Snowflake's words were quiet and he was tense, his shoulders drawing forward as he spoke and one of his pale hands coming up to touch his throat. “It didn't hurt... but I couldn't say anything.”

Aster shuddered at the thought, horrified and unable to resist the urge to wrap around Snowflake. The position was awkward, hugging the boy when Snowflake was in his lap, but he needed to.

After a moment of stiff silence, Snowflake relaxed and squirmed so that the position wasn't quite so hard on Aster’s back, letting the Pooka hold him tightly.

“Snowflake, I need something from you,” he said softly after several moments of simply breathing in the boy's scent. When the sprite nodded against his chest, he continued, swallowing back a blush. “If you ever feel that way again, find some way to let me know? Please?”

“Alright... I will,” Snowflake eventually said, and Aster nodded, sighing in relief.

“Good. For now though, I have to tell you, I love the sound of your voice,” he said it with a small chuckle, and worried for a moment until he heard a small huff from his snow sprite. “Would you be willing to just talk?”

“You'll regret asking that, eventually,” Snowflake said, but there was a little bit of levity in his voice now, a bit of cheer, so Aster just grinned, squirming himself so that he was laying with Snowflake half on top of him. He liked the snow sprite there.

“Never.”


	10. Chapter 10

“Bunny?”

“Hmm? Snowflake? Ow ya goin'?” Aster's reply was muffled by Snowflake's hair, his nose buried deep in the snow sprite's tangled locks.

“What does marked mean?”

The Pooka went from being relaxed and still mostly asleep to being stiff and on the edge of panic with that one question. Oh he had been expecting it, or a variant therein of, or even just flat out rejection when Snowflake found out about it, but now that the boy had his voice back, and had spent most of the night talking to him before they both fell asleep, the fact that he could ask directly about it hadn't occurred to Aster.

“Is it bad?” Aster made himself relax when Snowflake asked the second question, forcing each group of muscles in turn to stop being so tense.

“No, I don't think so at least. You might an’ if you do I'm sorry but it will fade with time if you want it to although I seem to keep marking you in my sleep and I really didn't mean to the first time but it feels right and it makes me feel better to smell it on you because its my way of saying I adore you and I do I really do adore you and it will tell others that I’m interested in you I hope you don't mind...” Aster found himself babbling, panicking just a little until he felt Snowflake's cool hand over his muzzle, gently keeping his mouth closed.

The snow sprite had pulled back just enough to stare at Aster, and there was frost covering his cheeks in the boy's adorable version of a blush.

“Bunny, what is marked, and what does it mean. In general terms,” The boy added, ducking his head down to try to hide his blush against Aster's fur again.

Aster took a deep breath, gently moving the boy’s hand from his muzzle and letting a weak smile come to his face.

“Well in my case, it means I've chinned you, marking you with my scent. It, well, it's like telling everyone that I'm close to you,” Aster could feel his ears pinned to his head and neck, and his whiskers were pulled back against his face. “It essentially means that if anyone messes with you, they'll have to deal with me.”

Snowflake seemed to think about it for several minutes, mulling it over as he snuggled against Aster, and the Pooka had just started to relax when he asked his next question.

“So what does mate mean?”

“Oh El-Ahrairah’s balls where did you hear these from?” It slipped out before Aster realized that he was speaking.

“A huldrakari... he said he wasn't going to keep attacking someone else’s mate. The others didn't care...”

Snowflake cut off with a small squawk when Aster tightened his grip, a low growl coming from the Pooka's chest at the thought of anyone attacking Snowflake. If the terms marked and mate had been bandied about, that meant that whoever had attacked Snowflake had been after him for sex, and if someone hadn't cared, well the world was fading to gray around the edges.

He wasn't sure how long he growled at the air, clutching his mate tight, but he did know that it took him a long time to calm down. Once again he was forcing himself to relax although he couldn't stop the growling.

“Snowflake?” He wasn't calm yet, but he was getting there, and he likely wouldn't be calm for a while, maybe longer depending on the sprite's answer to his next question. “Did they hurt you? Did they hurt you at all in any way?”

“No,” the sprite's voice was shaking and Aster suddenly realized he was probably scaring the boy but he couldn't get his arms to actually loosen from their grip on his mate.

“Good. If anyone ever attacks you, or tries to hurt you, come to me. I swear I'll end them.”

“Bunny... I've been taking care of myself for a long time,” Snowflake's words were quiet, and his voice still trembled in a way that bought out every protective instinct that Aster had.

“You don't have to do it alone anymore though,” Aster was vehement about that and it didn't help him stop growling, but it did help him relax when Snowflake managed to wrap his arms around the Pooka.

“Thank you,” Snowflake's words soothed something inside of Aster, a prickly and defensive bit that he hadn't even realized was there. The fact that his mate was willing to let Aster defend him helped, and he felt better about having accidentally marked the boy so long ago.

* * *

Snowflake spent a lot of time thinking about Bunny and what he said. The Pooka never did answer with what mate meant, but Snowflake thought got the gist of it from the context of their conversation.

It was a little bit scary, knowing that Bunny wanted that from him. He wasn't stupid, he could figure that out, if he sat down and actually thought it through, but it made him uncomfortable.

That was part of why he only thought about it every few months, if that often. The attacks of spirits looking to breed him had all but stopped over the last decade or so, and Bunny had started marking him fresh every time he left the Warren. It was vaguely embarrassing knowing he was essentially wearing a badge that said he belonged to Bunny, but the Pooka was still giving him a choice and had never tried to push further than Snowflake was comfortable with.

It was a much better situation than what had happened with his Master, where she wasn't interested in using him for herself, but because of what he was selling him to others to breed him was quite lucrative.

He had found out after the third time he had miscarried that it was because any children he bore would have all the power of a winter spirit as well as most of the power of whatever their father was. With the clientele his master had served, the children would have become pawns and tools.

Bunny wasn't like that though, hadn't even asked for sex, let alone to breed him. He gave Snowflake a choice on whether he wanted to come or go, and whether or not he wanted to be marked. Considering that apparently all it took to mark Snowflake was a quick cuddle and the sprite rubbing his head against the Pooka's chin, it was more a pleasure than a hardship.

Thinking of how safe he felt with Bunny, and how the Pooka was so willing to try to protect him, gave Snowflake a warm glow in his chest and sometimes low in his belly as well.

Sighing, Snowflake finished herding the clouds where they were supposed to go, gently urging them to drop their light load so he could go back to the Warren and spend some time with his benefactor. The longer he spent away the more he wanted to go back, which was strange, but felt right so he didn't want to fight it.

* * *

The little tooth fairy sighed as she flew, enjoying her job and the cool night air. Her retrieval was in North America, just a little town far away from Tooth Palace. Getting to and from was half the fun though, especially when it gave her the chance to play around.

It wasn't that she and her sisters weren't dedicated to their job, but Mother always understood when they took a few minutes here and a few minutes there between shifts or when fetching teeth. All the better that there was snow in the ground and gentle flakes drifting down. There were a few handfuls of tooth fairies with thicker plumage who did better in the colder climates, enjoying the fun winter time, and she was lucky enough to be one of them.

Not that Mother ever sent any of the tooth fairies to climates that were too hot or too cold for them, but a lot of the time the places they were sent weren't as interesting. Spotting a semi-familiar form, she chirped excitedly as she raced towards the bright plaid cloak, hovering in front of a startled face and grinning brightly.

“Sheila?” Snowflake asked, and the tooth fairy chirped, amused as she remembered when they met at the North Pole, so long ago. He called her that every time now, not that she actually objected.

He probably didn't understand, but she started telling him about what was happening at Tooth Palace and with all her sisters, and as always he sat down, this time on a convenient tree branch, and listened.

* * *

“Snowflake? What is your favorite color?” Nicholas's question was a little out of the blue, and the snow sprite kind of flinched, although he didn't race for the Burrow the way he had the last two times the Guardian of Wonder had visited.

As far as the Cossack was concerned, that was definitely a step forward.

“I like blue,” was Snowflake's quiet answer, and Nicholas grinned at the boy, moving to sit down nearby with his wood carving tools and a small cylinder of birch wood.

The wood was pale, perfect for painting when he was done with the finished product, and perhaps if he took it slowly and was careful, he could present Snowflake with a true masterwork.

The snow sprite was working on something with a needle and some thread, and this was one of the handful of times that Nicholas had seen him without one of his billowing cloaks, apparently because he was modifying one of them. The boy was studious and quiet, not talking to Nicholas as the Cossack worked and so the Guardian of Wonder didn't break the companionable silence either.

It took him about half an hour to get the piece of wood to the right shape, and then another hour to get it painted the way he wanted it, but when it was done, he smiled. The tiny wooden matryoshka was a good representation of the boy, with a silver braid painted from head to the middle, pale skin, and a blue outfit. The next one, made to hold this one, would have a hooded cloak, but this one looked like the boy without being hidden.

“A gift,” He stated, smiling brightly as he set it on a rock. “The paint will be dry soon, yes? Have good night, and tell Bunny I say hello.”

Nicholas didn't expect a response, so he wasn't surprised by the lack as he left the Warren.

* * *

The bright sunlight filtered down through the layers of Tooth palace to the lake below, and Tooth smiled at the sight below, barely containing her joy at what she saw.

A light layer of frost coated some of the lake, and Snowflake was standing in the middle of it talking quietly with one of her little fairies. Several dozen more all tittered from nearby, but every time one of them flew forward, the little one hovering directly in front of him warned them off.

She wasn't sure how, but Snowflake seemed to realize she was there, turning to look at her with a shy smile and a blush that made her want to swoon like the dozens of little fairies hovering nearby. He had such a beautiful smile, it was no wonder her fairies wanted to get closer.

“Alright girls, come on, time to break it up a little. Is everyone's rooms clean?” Tooth asked, smiling as she came closer. As expected most of the little ones scurried away, presumably to clean their living spaces. Her fairies worked in shifts, and while the palace held teeth and coins and their lives’ work, they lived in the surrounding forests and canyons when they weren't working.

“I didn't mean to get anyone in trouble,” Snowflake said, blushing as he came closer to where Tooth hovered nearby.

“No one is in trouble,” Tooth said quickly, smiling brightly at her guest. “Would you like to come in for some tea? I can show you where the stairs are if you would like?”

“I can fly,” the boy responded quickly, ducking his head so that the large flowing hood of his cloak hid his face.

“Then I can show you directly to the sitting room rather than taking a roundabout way.”

It didn't escape her notice that the little fairy hovering by his head stayed with him, muttering protectively and glaring at Tooth as they traveled.

* * *

Snowflake cautiously approached the hollow wooden doll on the rock, looking at it curiously to see what this one looked like. He had four of them now, including the little blue one in the center.

North would come every few years after Easter, and though Snowflake was still uncomfortable around the big man, the Russian had never tried to do more than occasionally babble about his workshop and the yeti and elves while he carved the next wooden doll. This one was again bigger than the rest of them, large enough to completely fill the palm of his hand, and was painted in the same bright plaid colors Snowflake's going out cloak came in.

Since Bunny was still sleeping off Easter, Snowflake waited until the doll was completely dry before picking it up and bringing it into the nest, where he had started storing his things a few decades ago, right after that first disastrous party that North had thrown.

He now had more than two cloaks and some clothes after all. Sheila had brought him a few small baubles and made it clear that she was giving them to him as gifts. Marbles and beads for the most part, and he now had a small bag full of them. Sandy had given him a handful of blue sea shells, of different shapes, and they clinked pleasantly with the marbles and beads.

But the wooden dolls North had given him were different. After the first one that North gave him, all of the others opened up, with enough room inside to hold the smaller dolls. Bunny had shown him how they worked, and with some embarrassment had brought Snowflake to a small storage room nearby where three dolls the size of Bunny's arm each broke down into ten smaller dolls of Bunny.

The Pooka had explained about the nesting dolls, and North's silly tradition of giving each of his friends a new doll every ten or so years, with a new set starting every century.

It was silly, and Snowflake didn't know why he was being included in this tradition, but it felt nice. He had spent a fair amount of time with Sheila the little tooth fairy, and with Tooth, her much larger mother, as well as occasionally just sitting with Sandy and watching a storm together or the night sky. Sandy seemed to like the night sky a lot, and he would get excited every time he saw a shooting star.

During these interactions, much like when North visited, Snowflake never had to go out of his way to try to defend himself or hide from them. Even Sandy had expressed appreciation when Snowflake relaxed enough to start babbling around him.

Then there was Bunny, who even when he was annoyed with Snowflake or cranky about other things in general, never told the snow sprite to shut up or go away.

Looking over to where the Pooka was laying in the nest, curled up with a tiny little frown on his face, Snowflake grinned and moved to join him.

* * *

Sandy frowned at the text he was reading, tossing it aside just like hundreds of others he had searched through over the years.

Not a single one of them gave insight as to what kind of spell could possibly be on Snowflake. It was extremely frustrating and even he was starting to lose his patience after nearly forty years of fruitless research. There were no clues, no possibilities, and no hope that the spell was anything that had ever been based in the white magics that encompassed healing and free will.

That left even more annoying research because Sandy had absolutely no idea where to search for answers now.

Scowling darkly, the dream weaver kicked his table, wondering who to go to to ask for help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are currently writing well... :3


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentines day!

Fields of Aster's googies did their thing and dried in the calm, perfect light of the Warren, and fresh batches were herded into the fields consistently. Snowflake seemed to enjoy herding the groups of wandering eggs through the painting flowers and the detail vines and finally through to the fields to dry.

Snowflake had come home earlier than Aster had expected but he hadn't complained at all. Even though Snowflake had assured him, over and over again, that no one had been attacking him, Bunny still felt better when he knew for sure where the snow sprite was. The fact that the boy let Aster mark him before each time he left the Warren was a small reassurance, but it wasn't enough sometimes when Snowflake stayed away for days or weeks.

But that wasn't here or now, and although he was on something akin to autopilot to get the last few batches of hand painted googies done, he still noticed the aurora.

“Aw bloody hell North, now?” he growled as he heard Snowflake's light landing nearby. “El-Ahrairah's whiskers, its three days till Easter, I swear if its not the world ending I'm going to paint that man blue.”

“What is it, Bunny?” Snowflake's words snapped Aster out of his grump and the Pooka huffed, turning to pull Snowflake into a quick hug.

“North 'as activated the signal. As a Guardian I've gotta go and see what he thinks is so bloody important three days before Easter. I'll be back as soon as I can. Keep the googies going through the dye paths?”

“Uhm... no. Bunny you're well ahead of where you plan to be, as always, and I'm curious. You promise the Yeti won’t try to at... eat me?”

“What? Of course the Yeti won’t try to eat you. Too scrawny, even if I have finally managed to put a bit of meat on you,” Aster said, laughing. “Are you sure you want to come? It'll probably just end up being something small or a weather phenomena again.”

“If it’s weather I might be able to help,” Snowflake said with a shrug and Aster perked his ears up, heading to the Burrow to gather some painting supplies and a sack to keep some googies in.

“Is that what you do each winter?” he asked, realizing that he knew depressingly little about what Snowflake did each year when he left the Warren in the fall. Aster had always assumed that it was winter sprite stuff, spreading frost and freezing pipes if the lad’s personality was anything to go by, but he didn't know for sure.

Snowflake was energetic in the winter, outgoing and almost cheerful despite the fact that Aster still hadn't ever heard him laugh, but he also had a mischievous streak a mile wide. All of it was harmless and in good humor though and he was careful not to set something up that could backfire. If it made the people around him have fun or enjoy themselves, it was a fair bet that Snowflake would do it.

At least, the Guardians and their minions. Not that he would call the elves, yeti, and mini tooth fairies minions to their faces mind, but that was essentially what they were.

“I do many things in the winter,” Snowflake said with a shrug and a grin, gathering up his brightest psychedelic colored cloak. North was going to end up regretting giving that one to the boy, although thankfully as long as Aster didn't actually have to look at it, it didn't give the Pooka a headache, and it was in spring colors.

Mostly.

“Well lets get going then,” Aster said, giving his own grin as he led his mate-in-courtship to the tunnels. Who knew, maybe this would be a good opportunity to give Snowflake the courting gift he had been working on.

* * *

As always, Snowflake was a little bit nervous as the emerged from the ground near North's workshop. As usual, well as usual as three times total could get, Bunny emerged from his tunnel cursing how cold it was. The Pooka really wasn't set up for the cold, so Snowflake did what he could, using his staff to direct the wind not to blow through the Pooka's fur while they were outside, and doing his best to draw the cold away from Bunny instead of letting it settle on him.

The only ridge with ice thin enough for the Pooka to get through to the surface was still a little ways away from the North Pole, and it didn't even seem like Bunny noticed Snowflake trying to do what little he could to keep the chill away from him.

Then when they got to the doors, Bunny turned to him with a grateful smile, and Snowflake returned it, glad that the Pooka had paid attention to his efforts. As they made it inside, one of the yeti came over to greet them, and Snowflake smiled shyly at the enormous furry person.

“Hi Phil,” he said softly, half hiding behind Bunny. The yeti head of security had taken it on himself to shadow Snowflake while he was in the North Pole and stand between Snowflake and things that made him nervous. It was hard for the Yeti to stand between himself and the snow sprite though, and Bunny was enough of a reassurance that Snowflake wasn't terrified at the thought of being here.

He was marked by the Pooka after all, which had turned out to be a fair deterrent from attack. Apparently even the Yeti respected that, which made Snowflake so glad that Bunny was on his side, because if he was enough to intimidate even a large group of very strong creatures like the Yeti, then he would probably be a very scary threat if he wanted to.

Phil rumbled something in their language, yetish maybe, and Bunny nodded. He and Snowflake followed Phil to where North was speaking to the other Guardians who had apparently gotten there first, mentioning someone called the boogie man. Snowflake tuned it out a little, grinning as he looked over the chaos of the workshop area.

Oh, he was still nervous around so many creatures he didn't know, but he was at least fairly confident that North and his helpers wouldn't try to hurt or use him. And if they did, Bunny would put a stop to it because Snowflake was his.

That gave Snowflake a little bit of leeway to play, and he grinned as he made his way over to the railing where he could send little bits of his power out to cause the elves to slip here and there. He didn't bother the Yeti, because they all looked so industrious and focused in what they were doing, but the elves all seemed to enjoy his little out of the way patches of ice, gathering excitedly to slip and slide on them.

Phil whuffled beside him, saying something in yetish, but since it sounded amused Snowflake simply grinned at the tall furry person.

“Pitch? Pitch Black? Here?!” Tooth's words drew Snowflake's head whipping around to stare at the Guardians, and he felt all of the blood drain from his face.

The Guardians continued to talk among themselves, something about black sand, but Snowflake couldn't listen anymore, and he put his hands over his ears as he slid down to lean against the inside of the banister, curling in on himself.

Pitch Black, one of his masters closest confidants, her best friend it had seemed for he had visited her more than any other. He had rarely hurt Snowflake physically, but had taken a sick enjoyment out of terrifying him.

Pitch Black had worked Snowflake's deepest secret out of him, the key apparently to controlling him.

His name.

He still had no idea how North knew his name, or why the man didn't use it to control him the way his Master had, but Pitch Black had no such compunctions about using it against him. His Master had been so upset about Black learning Snowflake's name that she had forbidden him from ever going near the fear spirit again, but that was something that Snowflake didn't want to do anyways.

He didn't realize that he was holding himself until he felt Bunny pull him into a tight hug, the Pooka's hands stroking over his shoulders.

“... on Snowflake, just tell me what's wrong. I'm here I promise and I'll protect you always, please Snowflake tell me what’s wrong.”

“Pitch Black... he terrifies me,” Snowflake managed to whisper, barely loud enough for Bunny to hear, so hopefully the others didn't. He didn't want them to know how scared he was, how much he knew that if he went near the fear spirit, Black would do whatever he could to hurt and scare him more.

* * *

Aster wanted nothing more than to find the Boogieman and tear his spine out, perhaps beat him to death with it, if they could get him dead. There was always a low level of fear in the world supporting the shadow-wielding boogieman, but hopefully it wouldn't be enough to keep him alive when Aster pounded him into a thin red paste.

He didn't realize he was growling until Snowflake made a small distressed noise, pressing against the Pooka to loosen Aster's grip. He relinquished enough of a hold so that the boy could breathe easier, but not enough to actually let go of the boy.

He could hear North and the others talking to Manny, and distantly he realized that the Man in the Moon was confirming that it was indeed Pitch Black, and this would be a wonderful time to find the spirit and beat the tar out of him.

“He's choosing a new Guardian,” North's voice was filled with awe and Aster glanced over at the other Guardians where they were clustered excitedly around the symbol in the floor even as it opened up, the blue crystal that Manny used to communicate with them rising out of the floor.

“Ooohhh who do you think it will be?” Tooth sounded entirely too excited, and Aster tried hard to clamp down on his temper, wondering how they could be so blasé about this when all he wanted to do was find Pitch and rip his spine out.

He didn't know when or how Pitch had scared his mate, even if it was before he had met the boy, but he wanted nothing more than to beat the tar out of Pitch.

“Who cares? Its not like we actually need help to deal with that bastard,” Aster heard himself growl, glaring towards the other Guardians who seemed taken aback when they looked at where he crouched holding Snowflake.

“Bunny, is big deal. We have not had new Guardian chosen since we came together as a group,” North stated, his voice seeming calmer before he turned back to the crystal.

The image that formed was not comforting, and Aster heard vicious swearing and a deep reverberating growl fill the room. Surprisingly, he was the one cursing and Phil was the one growling.

He felt Snowflake start shaking in his grip, and glanced down before cursing even more vehemently. The normally pale boy was whiter than one of Asters unpainted googies, verging on looking gray.

There, in an image formed of light above the large crystal that their _illustrious_ leader communicated with them through, was an image of Snowflake. Their newest comrade.

* * *

Nicholas paled as he saw the look of fury in two furry faces. He had expected Bunny to be upset about this as soon as he saw the form taking shape in the light of the crystal, but he hadn't expected such a strong reaction from Phil.

The yeti was in charge of safety and security, making certain that no one got injured while working and that any possible incursions were caught and repelled. It was Phil's second in command who had come to get Nicholas this morning, when Pitch had made his little show. Nicholas was still confident in his yeti friend, but he had never seen a reaction like this from the gray yeti.

Of course, the reactions from Snowflake and Bunny weren't much better.

The way the boy paled and started shaking when he was chosen as a Guardian was less than encouraging. Nicholas paled himself as he saw the look on Bunny's face, his lips were pulled back in a snarl, and the Pooka's cursing was downright vulgar.

It sounded that way at least, because Nicholas only understood about half of the languages it was in. They sounded vulgar though, much worse than his habit of using old composers for his own frustrations.

Tooth and Sandy seemed just as taken aback as he was, both having sad looks on their faces at the reactions, and Nicholas sighed, casting around desperately for some way to diffuse the situation.

“Perhaps Bunny and boy would like to take small sitting room to discuss possibilities,” he flinched as Bunny's glare focused on him, but held his ground. “It would be a good idea to think about choosing before deciding one way or another. There is time.”

“Right. Lets go, Snowflake,” Bunny said, standing up and picking the snow sprite up to carry him instead of having him walk. Phil shadowed them, and Nicholas knew better than to ask.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please do me a favor as a personal request. Please listen to this song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjAoFJ7k--s as you read this chapter. I consider this Jack's song for Invicta. When you listen to it you'll understand why :3
> 
> EDIT: Song is Only Hope by Mandy Moore if you cant get the link working :3

Snowflake lay against Aster's side, his cloak wrapped around him like a blanket. Phil was standing outside the door, giving him and Snowflake some privacy to talk, but so far there hadn't been very much talking.

“I can’t be a Guardian,” Snowflake finally said, his voice at a heartbreaking tone, and Aster hugged his young mate tightly.

“Why not? You seem perfect for the job as far as I can see,” Aster was never going to say anything that could damage Snowflake's fragile self esteem, but he also wasn't the kind to tell a lie to bolster the kid. Thinking about it, it really seemed like Snowflake would be perfect with the sprogs, and Aster really did believe that someone who had fended off attacks long before the Guardians found out about him could handle the load.

“I can't fight Pitch Black,” Snowflake said quietly, shuddering and burrowing his head into Aster's fur.

“It would be unfair to ask ya to this early,” Aster agreed, petting the boy's arm, and holding him close. “Thing is, I think ya can do it. You've got the strength, I think, and I know you'd be awesome with the sprogs.”

“I've heard you talk before, but it still sounds like a foreign language sometimes,” Snowflake said, and Aster smirked, though he didn't relax, well aware that his next question would upset his mate.

“Snowflake, why do you think you can’t fight Pitch?”

The snow sprite was quiet for several minutes, turning his head so that he was staring at the wall across the room. Aster had no idea what was going through the boy's head, and Snowflake was tense and obviously unhappy with the question, but Aster needed to know.

“I really don't want to answer that,” Snowflake finally said with a sigh, his voice watery and his grip on Aster tightening.

“Oh Snowflake, if it was up to me, well you would be safe at the Warren. You would never have to fight, or be scared of anything. I think we both know how that would end though,” Aster kept his tone as light as he could, though he was aware of the slightly bitter note seeping into it.

“I go crazy when I'm confined,” Snowflake admitted, so casually that it made Aster blink, and he really needed to get on top of his problem with growling because once more he didn't realize he was doing it until Snowflake poked him in the shoulder. “It’s in the past, leave it alone.”

“It’s really hard to, Snowflake. I want to find anyone who ever hurt you and end them,” Aster twisted as he spoke, lifting Snowflake up and settling him so that instead of the sprite leaning against him, Snowflake was sitting facing him. “Before all this started I already made up my mind. I want to ask you formally to be my lover. You don't have to answer now, take any time you need to think it through. If you decide you don't want to move on to the next step, or you aren't ready, or even if you just don't want to, El-Ahrairah forbid, it will be fine. Nothing has to change between us if you don't want it to...”

“You're babbling again,” Snowflake's cheeks were frosted over, but he wasn't running for the hills, so Aster was fairly sure he was on the right track. “I don't mind.”

Well that wasn't the heartfelt and joyous response he had allowed himself to hope for. In fact it didn't seem enthusiastic at all, and the boy flinched as he said it.

“Snowflake, if you don't want to or aren't ready, its alright...” Aster started, but he was cut off by his mate shaking his head and ducking so that he was looking at where Aster held his cool hands.

“I've already been thinking about it, Bunny. I'm not stupid, I do know what you want and it’s okay. I know you won’t hurt me more than you have to,” the way he said it, shrugging a little as if it was a foregone conclusion that pain was involved with becoming mates in every sense of the word.

Being aware of a problem and stopping it were two different things, because Aster was growling again if the sound filling the room was any indication. He wasn't mad at Snowflake for his insinuation, the way the boy held himself made it fairly obvious that he was talking from experience.

“Let’s get one thing straight, Snowflake, I'm not going to hurt you at all. I don't know what kind of blind mullet dipshit meataxe you were with before, but I'm not like that,” Aster was still growling as he finished speaking, and he relented enough to pull the startled snow sprite into a tight grip, burying his nose in the boy's pale, snowdrop scented hair.

* * *

On one hand, Snowflake wanted to believe that Bunny wasn't going to hurt him. The Pooka didn’t lie to him and had never hurt him so far. Bunny was gentle, and patient, even when Snowflake could tell sometimes that he was annoying or upsetting the Guardian. Hell, ever since he had gotten back the ability to speak, Bunny hadn't even told him to shut up.

That was important.

But on the other hand, it seemed impossible. There was no way becoming someone's 'lover' wouldn't hurt. Sex always hurt, his Master had said that was the way it was supposed to be for someone like him. Maybe it didn't hurt for others, but the way he was built meant that it would always hurt him. That was what his master said, and what his Master had preferred. She had been a cruel bitch.

Sighing, Snowflake reached up to bury his fingers in Bunny's fur, stroking and scratching to relax the giant rabbit. He didn't know what to say to reassure Bunny that it was alright, that being protected and cherished by the Pooka was worth it, that having the freedom to choose to come and go as he pleased, to be himself, would be well worth the pain of sex.

That even though it would hurt, something inside of him was looking forward to what was coming.

“Trouble at Tooth Palace!” North's words were loud and invasive, and Snowflake left a sudden trail of thick frost over half the room and in Bunny's fur when the old Cossack threw open the door to the small sitting room they were using.

Bunny only grunted though, and North didn't even seem to notice because he kept right on talking.

“Hurry and come, we must leave now, no arguments! If Pitch Black is attacking Tooth Palace we need to be there as soon as possible to fend him off!”

Snowflake paled, feeling the magic take grip of him even as he tried to resist it, but a command was a command. Apparently even though North hadn't been mean enough to command him after he met Snowflake, he still felt the situation was dire enough that Snowflake needed to come.

The thought of seeing Pitch Black again was horrifying, and he couldn't bring himself to complain as he and Bunny followed North through the lower levels of the Workshop. As much as he didn't want to come along, and knew that he would be worse than useless against Pitch Black, he couldn't hang back and he couldn't bring himself to speak up.

The tight grip was back on his throat when he tried to speak against coming with the Guardians. No arguments apparently meant he couldn't point out that Pitch Black could command him, or that it was a very bad idea for him to come along.

* * *

Seeing Snowflake resolutely following North, willing to face Pitch Black with the Guardians even though the boy was obviously scared of him was enough to make Aster swell with pride. He was proud enough of Snowflake facing his own fear and going with them that he didn't make any complaints about riding in North's sleigh.

The way Snowflake's eyes lit up on seeing it was enough to make Aster glad that he did, and he swallowed his biting comments. He would rather take his tunnels to Tooth Palace, but Snowflake followed North into the Sleigh so Aster did too. North was as usual enthusiastic and mouthy about takeoff in the blasted thing, and Aster held on for dear life as they went through the ice tunnels.

Tunnels he had no problem with, they were his primary type of transportation. Ice, he didn't mind so much, his mate was an ice sprite after all. Ice tunnels were another thing entirely, too smooth to get good grip on even if he was running like he normally did, letting the sleigh slide all over the place and make loops and twists.

He felt his stomach start to rebel and clamped down tight on it, glaring at the back of North's head as the Guardian of Wonder enthusiastically hooted and hollered, laughing as he made jokes. At least Snowflake and Sandy seemed to be enjoying themselves, both of them wearing bright grins when the Pooka glanced over at them.

Hitting the open air after North's launch tunnel was a short lived relief, and Aster couldn't bite back his curse as North opened his portal. The Cossack knew that Aster didn't react well to transportation magic, and the Pooka bit back another curse as they arrived, seeing the black shapes chasing down little fairies.

Snowflake was almost immediately out of the sleigh, jumping into the air and snatching tiny tooth fairies out of the way, his cloak fluttering in the wind as he zipped away and then back to the sleigh. Twice the black horse creatures followed Snowflake back to the sleigh, but Aster's boomerangs took care of them, and after a few moments of this, Sandy got the idea and began to help, his sand reaching out to strike the horses and steal a few of the small fairies. Between them, Snowflake and Sandy managed to save eight of the fairies before the swarm of black horses was gone.

As they pulled into Tooth Palace, North cursed, landing them on one of the larger balconies.

Aster immediately hopped out and ran to Tooth, listening to her cry for a moment about how brave her little sheilas were. When the small flutter of fairies that had been saved from the horses immediately swarmed to her, cooing and chirping as they settled in around her.

“Oh thank goodness some of you are alright,” Tooth said, tears in her eyes as she spoke, cradling one of the fairies.

“I'll be certain to do better next time,” the oily tones rang through Tooth palace, and the Guardians were immediately on their feet and in a protective circle around Tooth. “I must say, I'm positively starstruck. The big four, all together. Did you like my show on the Globe, North?”

“Shut it Pitch, we ain’t in the mood,” Aster growled his boomerangs at the ready as he watched the shadows for signs of their adversary.

“Stuff it, rabbit. It’s my time to shine,” Pitch growled himself, emerging from the shadows underneath the balcony everyone was standing on.

The Pooka growled, jumping to a lower level and loosing one of his boomerangs. He had the pleasure of seeing Pitch flinch as he dodged, glaring darkly.

“What do you think you are doing, Pitch?” North demanded, his loud voice almost a growl to match Aster’s.

“Why, I'm simply being polite,” the Boogieman growled, a scythe of shadows swinging towards the agile Cossack, which North blocked with one of his sabers. “This is my warning to you, I'm tired of hiding under beds and I'm coming to take what’s mine. I'll take what you have, the fame, the power. My right.”

“You don't deserve that Pitch!” Aster was growling, unable to hide his hatred of the master of the shadows as he threw his boomerang again, hoping to catch the Boogieman from either side.

“Oh suck an egg.” Pitch side stepped away from the boomerang, and Aster side stepped the shadows trying to hold him down. The Boogieman was holding his own against the four Guardians fairly well.

He didn't see the black sand horse coming up behind him, didn't realize it was there because they faced Pitch one on one always. Pitch was one of the spirits that never allied with others, too proud. He hadn't been strong enough to form proper fearlings in quite a while either, and Aster had gotten careless.

He was just as lucky that Snowflake was there to step in, his staff and ice power blocking the nightmare from attacking him. Pitch Black's reaction to the boy stepping forward was completely unexpected though, as Aster turned to where the boogieman was now standing.

“Oh this is rich! Kneel!” Pitch black shouted, and Snowflake immediately dropped out of his attack stance to one knee, his head bowed though there was a look of fear and hate on his features.

* * *

Snowflake began to sweat as he felt the magic take such a strong grip on his core, forcing him to one knee even as he fought against it, straining against his own body to resist. Terror coursed through him, quickening his pulse and making him shudder. Undoubtedly Pitch Black could feel it now as he focused on Snowflake, because even as the Guardians froze in shock, the fear spirit began to laugh, the low rolling tones filling Tooth Palace.

“Oh this is precious. Your master has been dead for what, a hundred years now? And yet the Geas still holds you strong,” Pitch was saying, but Snowflake could barely hear it over the pounding in his ears.

“Snowflake? What's he talking about?” Tooth's voice was distant, and he couldn't bring himself to answer her, too ashamed, and too scared.

“So you don't know what's at your side,” Pitch said, his laugh rolling out again, even as a handful of his black sand horses gathered around him. “Let me be the one to, shall we say, enlighten you then. Snowflake? Is that what you've been calling it?”

“Him! What did you do to Snowflake?” Bunny's voice was a demand, and Snowflake could feel the Pooka's paws trying to pull him up from where he knelt, but until the order was canceled in some way, Snowflake's body was locked in place.

“Right then, 'him' if you will. Snowflake here is the greatest creation of the mostly mortal witch Baba-Yaga, an almost perfect replica of the seasonal wombs. All the power of an elemental, packed into a completely obedient form that will bear the young of whoever decides to fuck it. Well, that was the theory at least,” Pitch Black's laugh was downright nasty as he stood gloating, and Bunny was growling again. “Oh don't tell me you didn't realize it's fertile. I thought all animals could smell when a bitch was in heat?”

“Shut up Pitch!” Tooth yelled, barreling towards him from behind with Bunny's forgotten boomerang in her hand. She managed to clip him, although the blow wasn't solid and he melted away into the shadows before she could come around for another pass.

“Kill the Tooth Fairy,” Pitch Black's voice rang out from where Snowflake couldn't see him, and his body was moving despite his resistance, ice flinging towards where Tooth hovered in shock.

Bunny just barely managed to knock her out of the way, then the other Guardians were moving too fast for Snowflake to keep track of. They didn't attack Snowflake, and he wished that they would, that they would do whatever it took to stop him. He was going to kill Tooth, and he didn't want to. Tears rolled down his cheeks, and although his movements were a little sluggish, he was still getting closer and closer to a final blow on the Tooth Fairy.

Then he did it, his ice caught her leg, pinning her to one of the pillars that made up the supports of the palace, and his staff was heading for her throat when two voices called out to him. One he wished he could obey, and one that held as much power over him as Pitch Black.

“STOP!”

Snowflake dropped, no longer balancing on the wind as it moved on without him, his movements frozen, even as the shadows reached out and enveloped him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm probably not going to be able to put another chapter up for about a week! Although if things go well I should have Invicta done by the end of the month and be able to reapply myself to Burning Summer and its sequel (the last one in that series I swear) as well as writing more in the Pooka's Mate verse.


	13. Chapter 13

Snowflake was gone, swallowed by the same shadows that had claimed Pitch Black when the boogieman started losing their battle. Even without Tooth at their side and worrying about Snowflake, that bastard hadn't been a match for the Guardians.

But he had taken Snowflake with him, and even though the snow sprite had been doing his level best to kill Tooth it still hurt so much for him to be gone. Aster felt like his heart had been ripped out of his chest and left bloody on the ground.

Snowflake was gone, in the hands of Pitch Black. Suddenly all of Snowflake's objections and fear regarding the Boogieman made so much more sense, and Aster wanted to kick himself for not realizing that there was so much more to the boy's fear than abstract.

There were so many spirits who were afraid of Pitch Black without ever having come into contact with the Boogieman, and it had been far too easy to dismiss Snowflake's fear without looking deeper into why the sprite had been afraid.

“Bunny. Bunny!” North's voice was both far away, coming to Aster's ears through six inches of water it seemed, and all too close, the Cossack shaking the Pooka's shoulder where he stood stunned. “Bunny we must come up with plan for what to do next. Tooth Palace is already starting to fail, and we need to get Snowflake away from Pitch.”

“How, North?” Aster focused on Tooth's voice, turning to look at the distressed fairy and her small flutter. “Snowflake is under some kind of geas, and until we figure out the trigger, it could be too dangerous to go after him and Pitch.”

Too dangerous to who didn't need to be said, and Aster at least knew he wouldn't be able to lift a finger against Snowflake if Pitch ordered him to attack again. None of them wanted to hurt Snowflake. Even before the Moon had chosen him the sprite had become something of an unofficial member of their group.

“We will find way,” North looked determined and resolute, and Aster let himself hope just a little.

“Right then. Lets figure out the next step.”

* * *

The snow sprite grunted as he hit the ground, curling in on his side to avoid throwing up. Traveling through the shadows was unpleasant and extremely disconcerting.

“Useless. You couldn't even end the Tooth Fairy,” Pitch said, stepping over Snowflake and towards a rusty iron globe that mimicked the one in North's workshop.

Despite the lingering fear, Snowflake looked around with a degree of curiosity. He had never been in the Boogeyman's lair before, since all of his interactions with Pitch Black had taken place in his Master's home. He had to admit that the lair did seem to live up to its hype, all shadows and vaguely unsettling shapes everywhere. Stone stairs defied the laws of physics to twist and turn where they shouldn't, while shadows converged everywhere, stark like ink against pale stone. Spires of rock both reached up from the ground and down from the ceiling, and in between them were the paraphernalia taken from the Tooth Palace.

Piles of tooth boxes littered the ground, while cages hanging from the shadows held all of Tooth's mini fairies. All of them were chittering and chirping as Pitch Black muttered about something. It wasn't a command so Snowflake didn't worry about it, although he did listen. It didn't seem important at the moment, something about the small group of fairies that had been saved to stay with Tooth.

“I don't suppose you had anything to do with that?” Pitch finally asked, his voice a growl as he turned to where Snowflake lay, and the boy felt fear claw at his gut. He remained stubbornly silent, glaring away from Pitch with a scowl on his face. “Damnit, speak up and tell me what you had to do with the fairies that Tooth still has!”

Unfortunately Pitch was well aware of his stubborn streak.

“I saved five of them from the black sand horses,” Snowflake bit against each word, struggling not to speak up against the pressure making him talk. He didn't volunteer one bit of information more than that, even as Pitch's fist wrapped up in the front of his shirt, the fear spirit’s other hand throwing back his hood.

“Oh Jack, bull headed. You do know that it doesn't have to be that way, don't you?” Pitch crooned, and Snowflake flinched as he heard his name for the first time in a very, very long time. “Stop struggling, just cooperate and I can go so easy on you. Answer me honestly, how many of the little nuisances did you 'save'.”

“I saved five.”

“Why did you do that, and remember to be honest,” Snowflake's back was against a wall, and the sprite flinched again. It didn't take long for Pitch to remove his cloak, and the boy felt his heart racing as the shadows swallowed it up.

“I was looking for Sheila. She's my friend,” Snowflake felt himself blush as he volunteered this little bit of information, but it did what it was meant to and made Pitch Black chuckle, more humor in his voice now than anger.

“Oh Jack, always so tender hearted. Did you find her?” The Boogieman chuckled again as Snowflake shook his head. “Good, that means that she's somewhere in the cages. Search her out... find her, and then hold on to her for me. I still have some tasks to attend to.”

Snowflake whimpered as a fresh fear gripped him.

* * *

His Nightmares may not have gotten the introduction he had been planning for them, all of his hard work at stealing dream sand and forming the perfect little equines not getting the attention it deserved, but they were certainly in the spotlight now. The Guardians were being swarmed, and he was slowly but surely separating them from one another, a fact that they caught onto far too late.

Oh but it wasn't in his nature to go for a quick kill on any of them. It was far more amusing to watch them scramble and run from his beautiful Nightmares. It took him a while to tire of that game; there was just something so satisfying about seeing the Guardians on the run and looking haggard. 

When he did get tired of it, he already had them right where he wanted them. The key to controlling dreamsand, even his Nightmare sand, was to believe that it was what he was shaping it in, something that had taken quite a while to master for a creature made of belief as he was. 

However, having mastered that made it so much more satisfying to draw back his arm as the black sand arrow formed in front of him. His posture was perfect, and the black arrow flew straight and true, striking its precise target, the Sand Man’s back. 

Watching the nightmare and fear corrupt the cheerful, bright little creature was a delight, and the little man’s fear felt so good. It was downright intoxicating, feeling Sandy’s fear and seeing the confusion and resignation on the fallen star’s face. 

Feeling the fear of the other Guardians as they were powerless to stop what was happening to their dear friend and sending his Nightmares to harry and harass them as he finally let them regroup. Their fear was worth more than killing them, and bloated as he was with their terror it was no hardship to let them escape, one of North’s portals flashing into existence in front of them before they disappeared. 

“Run, run far and run fast. It won’t be long until it’s your turn to cower in the shadows,” he purred before a deep guffaw escaped him.

* * *

The atmosphere was sombre as Tooth placed the candle on the floor, yeti and elves attending the wake feeling just as upset as the Guardians. It was hard for Aster not to cry as well, though his tears would have been the tears of helpless rage and frustration. He had been the one closest to Sandy when the arrow struck, and he wished that there had been more that he had been able to do. Even as hard as he tried, he had been unable to reach the dream weaver before it was too late. 

His paw had been outstretched, reaching for the dream weaver even if there was nothing else he could do, when the last brightly glowing bits of sand had disappeared. There had been one last, defiant flash of light before the sand man was gone, beyond the reach of any of them. 

Pitch Black’s mocking laughter, his cruel taunts as the nightmare sand corrupted Sandy, they were still ringing in Bunny’s ears. 

“Bunny, was not your fault,” North stated, one of his large hands coming to rest on the Pooka’s shoulder where they stood, staring at the slowly burning candle. “There was nothing any of us could have done. None of us even saw the blow that…” 

The Cossack trailed off, but Aster understood what he was getting at, although he didn’t agree. 

“I’m a warrior North. I shoulda been able to do something,” he growled, glaring at the candle as if it was what was offending him. “I’ve been and seen so much in my life, been alone and not. I’ve slept through thousands upon thousands of years. I’ve destroyed and rebuilt my entire self since my people died, but Sandy…” Aster choked, his throat tightening too much for him to be able to continue. 

Sandy had always been there for him, had been the one to prod him back into productivity when he slept for so long, had urged North and Tooth to help re-civilize him after his wild stint when Atlantis sank. The fallen star had been around during the Golden Age, and even if they hadn’t known each other personally it was sometimes a comfort to even know that someone else remembered. Manny was too young, had been barely out of diapers when the Fearling War ended, but Sandy had been around since the start of it. 

But he wasn’t there anymore. 

Aster wasn’t alone, he knew he wasn’t alone because Tooth and North, all the yeti and the elves, they were there for him just as he would be there for them. It didn’t seem to be able to fill the void in his chest when he realized he had lost both his mate and his oldest friend to Pitch Black in the space of a full day. Loosing either one of them would have been painful, almost unbearably so, but loosing both of them was a blow that Aster wasn't sure he could recover from.

For all that he had only been around the boy for a short time, it was easy to realize that the boy had been such an integral part of him. The sprite was his mate, and soon would be his lover when this little ordeal was over. They would get through this, he would get his mate back, and he would end Pitch.

“Bunny, you are growling again,” North said quietly, and Aster did his best to master his emotions. Getting upset wouldn’t help anything, but planning well that would be spot on.

“Easter,” he said, thinking hard. “Tomorrow is Easter. We've got a chance to turn this around! It will be a bigger, better Easter than ever. Get those little lights flickering again!”

Aster bounced in place, the same manic energy that pushed him during the peak of his holiday cresting as he turned bright eyes to his fellow Guardians. North and Tooth nodded, both of them slowly grinning as Aster outlined his plan.

Since he and Snowflake had been doing well, there wouldn't be that much work to do to get things on track. With a bit more help, they could have a bigger turnout than ever this Easter.

In the distance, unnoticed by any of the remaining Guardians, wings sounded on the wind.


	14. Chapter 14

Tooth looked around as Bunny explained his Easter plan, feeling excited although she wasn't sure it could all be attributed to Bunny's plan. She felt comfortable and in control in a way she hadn't since Pitch attacked Tooth Palace, like she could get through this with no problems.

And if it would keep Bunny going when they had such horrible news about Snowflake, then she was more than willing to help him with Easter. The fact that the boy was under such a spell, and had been created by a witch with such an evil reputation in the first place, well it was a shock. One that she was glad Bunny seemed to be getting over as well as he was.

Focusing on him helped her ignore the gaping emptiness inside of her where all of her fairies usually were. She could ignore it though, as long as she had something else to focus on. She had never lost touch with so many of her fairies at a time, but whatever Pitch had done to them she couldn't sense them the way she normally could. She feared the worst, but in deference to her dear friend hoped for the best.

In a way, as time passed, she was feeling better, almost as if they were all safe and sound instead of locked somewhere in the dark. She could almost hear the flutter of thousands of wings in a constant low hum that always permeated Tooth Palace.

It wasn't until the small flutter that Snowflake and Sandy had managed to save got excited that she realized that she really could hear her fairies in the distance, and with her own excited shout she flew out through the skylight and looked to the horizon where a cloud of her fairies approached from the south.

It didn't take long to reunite with them, and at the same time it took forever because they were all there, far more of them than she had expected to be alright. Making her decision, she led them into North's workshop, where the work stopped as the cloud of fairies flew in and fluttered near the ceiling.

“They're safe!” Tooth said excitedly, a large cloud of the fairies closest to her still chattering at her in the high pitched, squeaky fairy language that they had developed amongst themselves when she first split off into multiple fairies. “Snowflake turned them loose when Pitch left him alone in his lair.”

“Snowflake is okay? Where is he now?” Bunny's immediate focus on her when she mentioned the sprite was a little bit intense, but honestly she did understand.

“They don't know,” Tooth said softly after listening for a moment to her fairies chitter and chirp. “Pitch apparently told him to find the tooth fairy he's close friends with and keep hold of her, but never said not to turn the others loose. So he set them free and told them to hurry away.”

“This is great news Tooth! The little ones can get back to gathering teeth as we prepare magnificent Easter the likes of which has never been seen!” North bellowed, a hearty laugh coming from him even as Tooth shook her head.

“No, it’s too dangerous and I cant loose them again,” Tooth stated firmly and North's normally jolly demeanor turned thoughtful. “And there's nowhere to store the teeth when they do collect them. Tooth Palace is in shambles and all of the tooth boxes are still in Pitch's lair.”

“The Yeti.” She hadn't expected Bunny to speak up, but she turned to him as he outlined his idea. “I know North has plenty of portals pre-set up and ready to go, send a handful of the little sheilas with a yeti to the different areas to gather teeth. The Yeti can carry bags for the teeth and keep the little sheilas safe. The rest of them can come with us to the Warren to finish Easter preparations and get the googies set out for the sprogs to find tomorrow!”

“Bunny, that is brilliant!” North shouted with a laugh, and Tooth had to agree, although she still felt a little nervous about letting her girls out of sight.

* * *

The wards hadn't been breached, not from outside the Warren or the inside though there really wasn't anything that would try to escape. The light was perfect and his googies were ready to be painted up for Easter. A gentle breeze blew through the trees and grass to keep the temperature perfect, not too hot for Snowflake and not too cold for Aster.

None of that could detract from the fact that he knew there was an intruder in the Warren the moment he and the Guardians tumbled out of his tunnel and into one of the painting fields. Aster couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something off, and he growled as he pulled his weapons free, ready to face whatever threat had invaded his home. Tooth and North followed his lead, and the little fairies with them were certainly ready for a fight.

He was expecting a Nightmare, or a Fearling even, something strong enough to get through his wards without him being alerted. He was even half hopeful that it was Snowflake come home to him, though he would be wary of that because Pitch.

Pitch had some kind of control over his mate and it was enough to keep him riding that edge of fury and considering his chocolates collection.

He did not expect the intruder in his Warren to be a tiny four year old girl.

“A kid? What is a kid doing in the Warren?” He managed to squeak as the girl chased a group of googies, easily distracted.

Watching North do a pat down of himself and discover a missing snow globe was not making Aster's day any better.

“I bet she's a fairy fan!” Tooth said enthusiastically, distracting the little girl and flying in front of her, though that didn't last long as Aster tried to wrack his mind for what to do with the sprog. Apparently four year old girls weren't interested in blood and gum on baby teeth.

“Crikey Tooth, what are you doing?” He asked, his ears pressed back as the little girl cried, before a group of Tooth's little fairies flew in front of her to distract her once more. The girl quieted down for one blissful moment before starting to cry again, turning away from the cloud of little fairies with determination.

“Bunny hop! Hop hop hop!” She squealed, running over to where Aster stood watching and giggling. He wished she would make up her mind because flipping between crying and giggling was a bit hard on his nerves, though it seemed about right from what he remembered of the sprogs.

“Hey little sheila,” he said softly, bending down to smile as charmingly as he could at the girl. “I bet you're an Easter fan, yea?”

“Sophie! 'M not shela!” The girl said, but she was giggling at him so it was probably alright. “Bunny hop hop!”

“That's right, Sophie, I'm a bunny and I hop,” he said, wondering what to do with the child now that she seemed to have fixated on him. He didn't have to wonder long however because a moment later she was chasing after unpainted googies with a small cloud of fairies following her.

“What will we do with child while working?” North asked quietly, looking fairly confused. “We do not have time to return child to home, do we?”

“No, we don't have time to take her home, but I've never met a child who didn't like painting things. We'll keep an eye on her but she won't be underfoot too much and we can send her home when we set out the googies. Since we'll be setting them out just before dawn, we should be able to get her home before there's trouble,” Aster explained with a sigh. “Sprog'll be tired on Easter, but she'll have the fun of being out and helping the Easter Bunny himself paint eggs.”

“Are you sure is good idea?” North's words made Aster flinch, and he shook his head.

“No, but we don't have much choice about the matter. Lets get this started while the sprog is still having fun.”

Undoubtedly by the time the night was done, someone would have fallen in the color river and he could only hope it wouldn't be the child.

* * *

Half a dozen of Tooth's fairies and one of the elves had gotten into a splash war in the coloring river while herding googies, and more than ever Aster wished that Snowflake was there to help out. Snowflake wouldn't have been so distracting or unfocused, and he would have been perfect for keeping Sophie out of trouble rather than letting the little girl tumble down into a large gathering of drying googies.

Thankfully none of the eggs had cracked but most of the paint jobs were now blurry instead of crisp and beautiful. The only one who could reliably distract the little girl from chasing eggs either painted or not was Aster. If Tooth or North tried to distract the child, she started to scream, much to the pain of Aster's ears and growing headache.

The little girl had eventually wound down though, and Aster was currently cradling her as she snuffled sleepily into his arms while they watched the fields of drying googies.

“Its almost time,” Tooth said softly, coming to land by where he sat with the child.

“Yep. We'll hit Burgess first and drop the little sheila off before we spread the rest of the googies,” Aster added quietly, earning a little grumble from Sophie to which he smiled. “She's a right sweet little thing.”

“I love her,” Tooth said, a sigh in her voice as she looked at the child sleeping in Aster's arms and the Pooka had to let out a quiet chuckle at that. Sophie had spent the entire time avoiding or crying at Tooth ever since she had tried to show the little sheila the baby teeth she had on her.

Still, there was something extremely endearing about the sweet little girl, a kind of earnest joy and excitement that only a young child could engender.

“Well, come on then, time to get going. The googies can dry on the way and we've got enough for a very large turnout.” Even Aster was feeling content and happy at the upcoming day, confident that they would get the sprog home, all of the googies put out, and then go rescue Snowflake. They could do this, although if Aster had his way he would do it in a different order.

He sighed, cuddling Sophie as he started gently herding his googies, wishing his mate was here instead of taken by Pitch Black. Maybe one day, if Snowflake wanted, they could have sprogs of their own, little half Pooka kittens running around causing mischief. Aster was both a shape shifter and a fertility symbol, so it wasn't out of the question, and it was something that he rather thought he would enjoy.

“A’ight, down the tunnels, I'll open them up so that...” Aster was cut off as Nightmares and shadows rushed in as soon as the tunnels started opening, and he cursed as it was all he could do to hold on to Sophie never mind actually fighting back against the Nightmares.

The others had no such burdens though, and both North and Tooth were doing their best to defend the googies even as wave after wave of Nightmares crashed into them.

Aster felt his heart constrict as some of the Nightmares snapped at the little tooth fairies who had been herding the eggs back towards safety, capturing a fair number of them even as the monsters focused on smashing all of their hard work.

Sophie was screaming as Aster held her tight, dodging the attacks of Pitch's Nightmares even as he worked hard to keep her safe, while Easter fell apart around him.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry its taken so long, a lot going on in life right now and I've been getting depressed because of issues. Its hard to write when I'm depressed...

It was hard, to see children walk through Bunny as he tried to convince them to keep believing. It was painful that they didn't even have to try to hide from the children, none of them could see the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus, and at least two of them had walked right through the Easter Bunny.

She didn't regret the choice they had mad, saving Sophie and fighting off the Nightmares, but the price of keeping one child safe had been loosing all of their hard work before they could set it out Easter morning. Despite the fact that her fairies were still out collecting teeth, guarded in groups by North's yeti, most of the children seemed to be falling into an apathetic despondency, and Bunny would be fast behind them if something wasn't done soon.

She just didn't know what to do.

It had been heartbreaking, returning Sophie to her home earlier in the morning. The child had immediately run to her older brother and started babbling about her night, seeming more excited about it than upset. She hadn't gotten hurt at all in the attack, they had made sure of that much.

But she had gotten scared, and probably over excited if the way she babbled on had been any indication.

If the Guardians had hidden nearby to listen to it, Tooth didn't think they could be blamed. It had been hard enough to let the little girl out of their sight after what had happened, but to realize that she was content and excited after all of that had been enough of a boost to see the Guardians through the rest of this horrifying day.

Bunny had been walked through, by a child who should have been one of his believers, on his Holiday.

It didn't get much more horrifying than that.

Certainly, sometimes the children didn't see them if they didn't expect to, and the belief of those children who could sometimes see them and sometimes not was not as bright as the children who would see them regardless, but there shouldn't have been any of those.

The kids should have been expecting to see a giant rabbit handing out eggs, and instead they were walking right through Bunny, like he didn't exist.

As spirits, it was a very painful thing to endure, and one of the reasons that most spirits seemed to have withdrawn from the mortal world.

Whatever Pitch had done with the teeth, and the memories contained in them, it was affecting the Guardians very deeply. Even keeping guard on the teeth that had been collected since Pitch took the boxes wasn't slowing down the rate that they were loosing believers, and Tooth had no idea what to do next.

If they lost too many more believers, they would all end up powerless and vulnerable to whatever else Pitch Black had in mind.

* * *

The soft golden light danced gently over tomes older than the Earth as two rotund little forms researched matters complex and simple while seeking answers. It had taken time for the quiet men to understand each other and what was needed, but the problem at hand wasn't one familiar to either of them.

One, because he sequestered himself away from the evils of the world, choosing to fight in his own way to keep light and happiness well, and the other because although he was in the thick of things he didn't know everything. Oh once it was explained, finding out exactly what kind of spell they were researching was relatively simple, but finding out what the trigger was tied to was much more complex.

It could have been anything from a physical representation, which wasn't as likely all things considered, to a spiritual tag of some kind. It wasn't tied to elements, or words spoken aloud, and didn't seem tied to any specific person all things considered. That left knowledge, whatever trigger was needed was definitely tied to some manner of knowledge.

Although it was nice to be together, they both rushed through the research, all too aware that time was running out far too quickly.

* * *

The day had been really disappointing to a lot of the kids in the neighborhood, and although Jamie knew that there was a reason he hadn't shown up, he was having a hard time dealing with the fact that the Easter Bunny hadn't come. There were no eggs to find, no hidden treats in the tall grass or behind bright green leaves.

Jamie had fallen and almost hurt himself checking the roof for what had turned out to be a brightly colored bouncy ball instead of the egg it had looked like from the ground. He had been disappointed when he looked up and saw it bounce, but he hadn't been disheartened until it had started getting dark.

Even though his friends had long gone home, telling him that it was only a dream that he had seen the Easter Bunny and the others.

“I believe in you, really I do, but I need to know what happened today. It's Easter and there were supposed to be egg hunts and what happened?” the boy sighed, staring down at his stuffed rabbit and knowing he was supposed to be in bed instead of sitting on top of it and talking to a representation of the Easter Bunny.

Some things just had to be said though.

“Look, I can understand a bad day, really I can, but with everything happening... I need proof that it wasn't a dream.”

Jamie stared intently at his rabbit, waiting for any manner of response, and he sighed, knocking the toy over and turning towards the window as he fumed quietly. If it really was a dream, then he was going to feel so foolish, but it had seemed so real.

Lost in his own thoughts, he didn't see the frost forming on the glass until a light blue sparkle drew his eye to where the window pane now sparkled in the moonlight. Even before his startled eyes, a simple drawing of an Easter egg was traced into the frost, like someone had used their fingertip to draw it.

Much to Jamie's delight, the window pane above that frosted over as well, and a simple bunny was drawn into the frost. Jamie had to laugh as the rabbit hopped out of the glass, and started jumping around the room, before exploding in a flurry of snow.

“Snow? But the Easter Bunny doesn't... whoah.”

Jamie cut off for a second, catching sight of the bright-eyed boy standing at the foot of his bed, wearing blue pants and a tee-shirt. Held loose in one hand was a little fairy, and he had his white hair pulled back in a messy braid.

Jamie had never seen him before, but he remembered something his mother had said off hand, something she had said wasn't real. On the other hand, everyone knew that adults didn't know anything about what was real and what wasn't.

“Jack Frost?” The way the boy's smile melted away as he paled was alarming, and when he started shaking Jamie wondered why. What had scared the boy so badly about Jamie seeing him?

* * *

Snowflake started trembling as the boy, Jamie Bennett, spoke.

“My name... he said... you said my name,” he watched, as the boy seemed to look right at him, wide-mouthed look of wonder swiftly being replaced by a look of worry. He hadn't heard his name in years, decades, at least a century probably longer.

It was a surprisingly nice feeling to hear it said out loud, although the sentiment was quickly drowned out by fear as he realized that it meant that this child could command him. The boy didn't seem to realize that it meant that, instead looking concerned and confused.

“Are you alright? What's wrong? You are Jack Frost, right? Oh my god you made it snow! In my room!”

Snowflake couldn't help but smile as the boy waffled between enthusiasm and concern, and though he was still scared of what might happen, he let his own enthusiasm match Jamie's.

“I know, its what I do! And snow days, and you remember that sleigh ride the other day?”

“That was you? Awesome!” Jamie bounced a bit, gibbering for a moment before a woman’s voice called out to him, and he stopped.

Snowflake nodded, grinning with the boy when he told his mother that he was talking to Jack Frost. It had been so long since he heard his name, and it wouldn't do any harm for Jamie to tell his mother because adults didn't believe, and so wouldn't be able to see or command him.

“Why did you look scared though? And who is this?” Jamie finally asked, calming down and pointing at Sheila who Snowflake still held in his hand.

“You know my name. Its important, and kinda scary when anyone knows my name. This is Sheila, I was commanded to hold on to her,” Snowflake shrugged, looking down at where Sheila looked back up at him, a look of sudden understanding in her eyes. “She's a tooth fairy.”

“I thought the Tooth Fairy was bigger,” Jamie said, looking confused, and worried himself now.

“She is! Sheila is one of her helpers. The boogieman kidnapped them,” Snowflake didn't mind volunteering information to Jamie, the kid was earnest, and looked positively upset.

“The Boogieman? Is that why the Easter Bunny didn't show up? He was helping rescue the tooth fairies?”

“No, I got them out, but I am pretty sure that the Boogieman had something to do with Bunny not showing up,” Snowflake sighed, looking out into the night. He was a little worried because he hadn't seen Sandy's streams of dream sand at all since he escaped Pitch Black's lair. Wasn't it time for him to show up?

“I want to help!” Jamie said, and Snowflake looked back at the boy and grinned at the determination on his features. “All of my friends think it was just a dream, but I want to help the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman and Santa!”

“I'll help you help them then,” Snowflake wanted to laugh at the irony of it. If Pitch Black got a hold of him again, he would probably be one of the biggest dangers to his friends, but if he could help this boy spark more belief for the Guardians, then maybe he could do something to help instead of being a threat. “Be careful though. The Boogieman can command me.”

Snowflake sighed, wishing that it wasn't actually necessary to warn the boy, but the very last thing he wanted at all was to hurt the human child.

“Why can he command you? Tell me how to fix it,” Jamie said, even more determined looking and Snowflake shivered at the command.

“It's tied to my name. Since the Boogieman knows it, he can command me. The only way to fix it is to break the geas binding my name,” Snowflake winced as he spoke, before shrugging. “Honestly, I have no idea how to do that.”

“Oh...” Jamie looked like he was about to say something more, but there was a ruckus outside and Snowflake grinned as he heard North's heavily accented voice calling for his reindeer.

“Why don't we go ask them how we can help fix this whole Boogieman mess?”


	16. Chapter 16

The sleigh jolted as it came in to land in front of one of the nondescript houses on the street, North wrangling the reindeer and trying to keep them from dashing off. Honestly, Aster was surprised that they waited until after the sleigh was 'parked' for lack of a better term, before they ran away. The flight had been even worse than usual, the smooth weightless feeling of not having earth under his paws accentuated by the rough, jerking motions of the sleigh as North lost control.

That being said, he was still grateful when they landed, and even though he felt like he was going to be ill still, he worked his way up the seat to where he could hop out, and paused, listening to North and Tooth incredulously.

“Snowflake! What are you doing here? Are you out from under Pitch's control?” North sounded both worried and exuberant at the same time, and Aster flinched, hunching down. He didn't want Snowflake to see him this way, even if he was here because of Pitch for some reason.

“Mostly,” Snowflake's voice was a balm to Aster's spirit, a bright point after the absolutely horrible day that they had all endured. The snow sprite sounded quiet though, and not as joyful as he usually was.

“Oh! She's alright! She was the only one that didn't check in when the others came back!” Tooth was saying, and Aster's sharp ears heard a rueful snort from his Snowflake.

“Pitch commanded me to hold on to her,” the sprite explained, and Aster wondered if they were talking about one of Tooth's sheilas, but he didn't hop out of the sleigh to see. He was already mortified that his power had drained so badly that he had been forced into a smaller, more energy conserving form.

“Snowflake, what are you doing here?”

“I was hiding from Pitch, but now...” Snowflake trailed off as another exuberant voice joined in, a young voice.

“Oh wow, you are real, Jack said you were! You're Santa Claus, and the Tooth Fairy, and Jack said your helpers were kidnapped by the Boogieman and he helped free them and where is the Easter Bunny, did the Boogieman do something to him?”

“Well... sorta,” Tooth's voice was the cue for Aster to leave the safety of the sleigh bench, and if anyone had told him he would rather cower in North's flying death toy, he would have laughed at them but he would have much preferred staying there to facing Snowflake.

“Is that the Easter Bunny?” Jamie Bennett looked right at Aster, and the currently diminutive Pooka fluffed up, horribly offended even as the boy began to scratch under his chin. “What happened? You were all big and cool, and now you're... cute.”

“Oh shove off! Where were you an hour ago?” Aster griped, but there was no heart in it, and he finally looked up at Snowflake.

“Bunny? What.. what happened?” the horrified look on the snow sprite's face was both gratifying, because he cared, Snowflake really cared, and unbearable. He didn't want Snowflake to pity him, or worry for him. The truth probably wouldn't make him feel any better, but Aster didn't think it would do any good to hold it back either.

“Lack of belief, mate. When Easter didn't go off, and the sprogs stopped believing, well, my power faded, and fast.”

“It probably has something to do with the teeth too. Sympathetic magic,” Tooth added, looking mildly sheepish.

“Is there anything we can do about that?” Jamie asked, and Aster tilted his head before sighing.

“No. Until the sprogs start believing again I'm stuck like this. Even if I manage to hold on till next Easter, I might not be able to...” he paused, depressed. He wasn't worried about dying, but being powerless was something he really, really didn't like.

Then he squeaked as cool arms wrapped around him tightly, Snowflake cuddling him close. The little tooth fairy was still in one hand, letting out her own squeak of surprise at what happened, but Snowflake had leaned his staff against the sleigh instead of holding onto it like he normally did.

“So, does that mean that you're free of Pitch?” Tooth ventured to ask, and Aster squeaked as Snowflake's grip tightened.

“No,” Snowflake's voice was quiet, and Aster found himself growling despite being small at the moment. “When Pitch shows up I have to be away. I was terrified when he commanded me to...” he trailed off, and Aster winced, pretty sure he knew what Snowflake was talking about.

The sprite would be just as upset at attacking them as they would be if they had to defend themselves against their dear friend.

“We are weak... we need belief to be strong and defeat Boogieman,” North sighed, and Aster squirmed until Snowflake set him down.

“We can do this. We've got yeti and elves and little tooth fairies, we can find a way to turn this around. North's even got a great big library under that little hill by his workshop and I'm sure we'll find some way to make sure that Pitch can't command you any more, Snowflake.”

“Oh, and how do you even think that will begin to work out?” The oily tones oozed out of the shadows, making all of the Guardians as well as Snowflake and the human sprog wince.

“Pitch!” Tooth's shout was accompanied by a rush and a blow to the face, taking the Boogieman by surprise even as Jamie grabbed Snowflake's hand and dragged him away.

“Come with me Jack!” the boy said, and Aster's ears twitched as he heard the name. Jack?

* * *

“They need belief right? I think I have an idea!” Jamie was panting as he pulled Jack along. “Let's go get my friends! When they see Santa and the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny they'll start believing again, right?”

“Theoretically they won't be able to see if they don't already believe,” Snowflake snorted as he spoke, although it was too good of an idea to discard entirely. “Is there anything we can do to get them to at least think about believing?”

“You could make it snow in their rooms,” the human's tone held laughter, and Snowflake found himself grinning as a few ideas came to him.

“Jamie... you believe in me right? What if the other kids did too?” It would be terrifying for the human kids to know about him, and be able to command him, but if it would help the Guardians, most especially Bunny who seemed so powerless.

It was wrong, Bunny was supposed to be strong and unshakable, kind and there for Snowflake.

Grinning, Snowflake moved to follow Jamie who was grinning and laughing as he led Snowflake to his friends houses.

“Let's climb up to the window... we don't want to wake Pippa's parents up. You'll have to let go of Sheila to do it though,” Jamie said, motioning to his friends house and presumably the room that held the first of Jamie's friends.

The command was innocent, but Sheila took the moment to flit around on her own wings for several moments when Snowflake's hands released her, and the sprite couldn't help but grin at what no one else had thought to do.

There were very few commands that had been given to him that couldn't be counter-commanded later. It was always the later commands that had to be obeyed when they countered something an earlier command had done.

* * *

They were losing.

There were times when it was okay to lose, when not winning wasn't going to mean that anyone got hurt or taken away.

This wasn't one of those times. If they lost now then the world would fall to darkness and Pitch was going to win. There would be fear and evil would grow in the hearts of children who would in turn grow into adults who would spread that evil to a new generation.

Aster couldn't bear to let that happen, but he couldn't see any way to prevent it. It seemed that no matter how hard they fought, the Nightmares were getting stronger.

It didn't help that he was still so small and helpless, fighting to keep his own core alive while he was fending off the Nightmares. Still, he was a Pooka, not an Earth rabbit, and while the smaller form conserved energy it didn't leave him entirely defenseless. Venomous dew claws wouldn't do anything to the sand-based Nightmares, but strong legs were enough to keep him away from them and to kick the careless horses in the face if they got too close.

Then he felt a familiar tingle, like he suddenly had more energy than his energy-conserving form could handle, and he wasn't sure where it came from, or how it happened, but his body shifted and elongated as he ran, turning the movement from fleeing to hunting as he went on the attack instead of the defensive.

It was good to be back to full size, and he didn't know how or who, but he could feel belief trickling in like water into a parched garden. It wasn't much, but it was enough to fuel his core and help him turn the tide of the battle.

It was also enough to let him get between the Nightmares and the sidelines of the battle where a group of sprogs, including Jamie and Snowflake, were watching.

“Good job Snowflake!” Aster took a moment to say, grinning at his mate, who looked pale but proud as he stood between the children and any other attacks.

“You'll win,” Snowflake calm encouragement was enough to make Aster turn and look for the source of their problem.

He wouldn't repeat the mistake that had let them loose Sandy, and ignore Pitch Black until it was too late. It didn't take him long to find the Nightmare King, as the furious Pitch Black was headed straight for where he stood between the rest of the battle and Snowflake's group of gawking, cheering sprogs.

“How dare you!” Pitch's roar could probably have been heard from the moon, and Aster growled at the implied threat, moving swiftly to attack the boogieman. It didn't help though, as a dozen Nightmares came out of the shadows, obviously intent on tearing him to shreds.

“Since you brought them into this, you'll take them out! Kill the children!”

“NO!” Aster screamed, turning in time to see Snowflake's horror even as his body turned sluggishly to begin attacking the sprogs, who seemed smart enough to flee with scared screams even as Pitch began to laugh.

* * *

Jamie had known it would be dangerous, bringing Jack back to where the battle was taking place, but it had seemed important that his friends see the Guardians fighting back the Nightmares that seemed to plague all of them.

It had helped, he knew it had when Santa started moving better and the Tooth Fairy started flying again. Most impressive of all though had been watching the Easter Bunny go from tiny and cute back to being impressive and awesome looking, with boomerangs and little eggs that seemed to explode pastel colors and chase back the Nightmares.

Every one of his friends had cheered in delight, although Jamie was sure his voice had been loudest.

Then the Boogieman had come after them, and commanded Jack to kill them. Jamie had known it would be possible, but he hadn't thought that Jack would actually turn on them. He was moving like a puppet though, one whose strings were being yanked on hard, and it wasn't very difficult to dodge him for now.

“Keep running!” he called to his friends, splitting off and hoping to dodge around so that he could lure Jack away from the others. It didn't work, and Jamie was certain that Jack was going to kill Claude, and then the Tooth Fairy was in front of him, and Santa was ushering the rest of his friends away.

They were safe, because the Boogieman was standing back and laughing and the black horses had pulled away, whickering in their own wicked amusement.

Jamie started to look around, wondering if there was anything he could do to help because he felt so helpless. Then he yelped in surprise as strong furry arms grabbed him up, and he turned to see where one of the Nightmares had come after him, stamping in anger before a boomerang went through it.

A moment later the Easter Bunny was setting him down and looking at him strangely, and Jamie found himself under intense scrutiny.

“You know something. Tell me how to help Snowflake,” the Easter Bunny said, and Jamie found himself babbling.

* * *

Snowflake fought hard against the compulsion to kill the Burgess kids, fought as hard as he could not to actually connect with any of his attacks. He had already clamped down so hard on his magic that it felt like he was going to explode, but he couldn't risk the compulsion using it to hurt the kids.

Tooth jumped between him and the kids every time he started getting close, and North was keeping the Nightmares away from the children, but no matter how hard he fought, he was going to run out of strength, and the geas would still be pushing his body to attack.

A nightmare came for Tooth, and he danced around her like she wasn't there while three nightmares pinned North, leaving a clear shot between him and the children.

He gritted his teeth through the pain of his arm breaking as he fought the swing of his staff, bringing it down on the ground next to Cupcake instead of on the girl's fragile head as she screamed and ran.

It hurt, and he was shaking as Tooth knocked him aside and into the wall of a nearby building, but it was much better than leaving him so near the vulnerable children.

Then the Nightmares were converging again, and Snowflake cried out in horror as his body charged the children again, compulsion and will making every step a pitched battle. Pitch was laughing and the world had narrowed to the fight in his own body, every muscle straining against the compulsion to murder the children, kids who believed in not only the Guardians but him as well. Another bone broke, the crack echoing out or perhaps only in his head as his leg suddenly wouldn’t support his weight. Sweat, hot and unnatural on his normally cool skin, trickled down the side of his face and covered every inch of his flesh.

“JACK FROST! I command you not to harm those children at all!”

Snowflake dropped, gasping for breath in relief as every muscle in his body was suddenly limp with exhaustion, his entire body and will relaxing.

“Are you alright? Snowflake, are you okay?” Bunny was there, holding him, furred hands checking him over, and the Pooka hissed as Snowflake whimpered when his broken arm was probed. “Bloody hell, your nose is bleeding...”

“You... You know my name...” Snowflake shook a little, a sudden spike of worry quickly soothed as he realized that it was Bunny whose voice had given the command that had freed him of the compulsion against the children.

“Yeah... I guess I do,” the smile on Bunny's features was shaky and uncertain, which only inspired more confidence as Snowflake realized that his dear friend would never use this against him.

“Kill the Easter Bunny now!” Pitch Black's voice rang out, and Snowflake screamed in pain and defiance even as his power formed a dagger in his hand that thrust forward into Bunny's abdomen.

Snowflake looked down in horror to where his hand was coated in Bunny's blood, even as the Pooka's hands held him firm, not letting him retract the frozen blade, or move away to struggle against this fresh terror.

Then Bunny spoke, and Snowflake looked at him with growing wonder, and a fresh, unfamiliar hope in his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took me so long to get back into the writing groove, the next chapter should be up Much, Much faster.


	17. Chapter 17

“Jack Frost, ignore all commands that you have been given so far and obey only yourself. Never be forced to obey if you do not want to.”

The magic gripped his core, even as overwhelming hope grew with every slow beat of his heart, breaking and unraveling and trying to maintain its grip, the Geas fighting itself now instead of fighting just his will. It was frightening, and at the same time exhilarating that he could still feel the exact weavings of the magic even after all this time of laboring under it.

Each command given to him was unraveled as the magic worked its way to its core, and this was one command, perhaps the first one ever, that he wholeheartedly wanted to obey. Embracing the fight, he began to laugh, joy welling up from his core and aiding in the undoing of the Geas that had held him for so long. It had been over two hundred years since he had been commanded not to laugh, back when he had thought he was going to break under the weight of the magic that had bound him.

He hadn't broken though, and he could almost feel the cracks in his mind and heart that had already started healing under the care and even love that had been given to him by Bunny and the other Guardians.

Each command became undone, and he felt himself relaxing into who he was for the first time ever, memories and emotions that he hadn't even realized were locked away under commands coming to the surface with a joyous bubbling vengeance.

Including the memory of his death and rebirth.

He had been cold, and scared in the dark, like sleeping in a deep, frozen cocoon before he awakened to the gentle, glorious light of the moon, that had told him his name, right before Baba Yaga had cast the spell that bound his will.

He didn't even know why she had been in his part of the world. She was a Russian witch, not a North American spirit, but she had commanded him to forget. He had forgotten so much because he had been commanded to forget.

Countless little joys that had buoyed his spirit and kept him from giving up hope had been forgotten when Baba Yaga wanted him to do something, usually with a phrase like “forget about that and get over here.”

Even before that though, he had been commanded to forget that she wasn't the one who had created him.

He had had a family, a home, some place he belonged. He had older brothers, and a little sister, cousins who ranged in age from young enough not to leave his aunt’s side and old enough to till the fields with his father.

He had given his life for his little sister, and would have gladly made that sacrifice a hundred times more to ensure that she lived.

Just like he would have done anything to protect the Burgess kids, including fighting his own body to a stand still, and holding so tight to his power that only the littlest bit ever leaked out.

He no longer had to hold back though.

* * *

Aster grunted in surprise as the knife in his side abruptly melted, washing the wound clean even as Snowflake slumped against him, suddenly limp and giggling. The sound was both worrying, and beautiful, almost musical and definitely hysterical.

“Snowflake? You right?” It hurt to breathe, but the nick in his side wasn't going to kill him. He had managed to keep Snowflake's knife from going into anything important, both by dodging with what wiggle room he had and grabbing the sprite's wrist while it was moving, but it had been a close thing.

Aster was also worried because Snowflake was shaking, and although the ice dagger was gone, there was still a fear that Pitch would be able to command him again. What if Aster's on the fly solution wasn't good enough?

“I'm fine, I'm great.” Snowflake was still giggling but now he was looking up at Aster with a bright, almost manic look in his eyes. “Jack Frost. My name is Jack Frost, and I like it when you say it.”

The giggles had subsided, but Aster didn't have more than a moment to contemplate Snowflake's words before the sprite was kissing him.

For a human spirit, he was talented with his tongue.

“Wait... wait a minute Snowflake... Jack! We still have to stop Pitch,” Aster managed to say, pulling back reluctantly from his (almost) mate, and Snowflake started to growl as he looked back towards where the bulk of the Nightmares were being wrangled by Tooth while North went straight for Pitch. The Burgess kids were staying out of the way, but even as Aster and Snowflake watched one of the Nightmares broke off from the herd and charged right at the sprogs.

Even from here, Aster's sharp ears caught Jamie’s words as he stepped in front of his friends, and the Pooka felt a great deal of perhaps unsolicited pride in the boy.

“No! I'm not scared of you!” the boy's words were loud and firm as he reached out to the nightmare, looking like he was intending to grab its muzzle. Where the boy's fingers connected though, the Nightmare broke down into streams of sand that turned golden even as the Guardians turned to see.

Snowflake laughed, and Aster blinked as the sprite turned back to him, a thick shell of ice growing over the boy's arm before he used one hand to tear a long strip off of his shirt and handed it to Aster. “Lets go get Pitch.”

More ice wrapped itself around Snowflake's leg as the boy stood, and Aster looked down at where his wound was a dull throb of pain now. Well, dull after the excitement of being kissed by Snowflake at least. Taking the strip of cloth that Snowflake had torn out of his sweater, Aster made a quick field bandage out of it, long practice meaning it only took him a few seconds to get the slow trickle of bleeding staunched.

The children were turning the Nightmares back into streaming golden dream sand while Tooth and North kept Pitch preoccupied, but it couldn't last for long, and they needed to finish this now.

* * *

“How dare you!” Pitch was beyond furious as he threw everything he had left into his attacks, drawing on all the fear that countless nightmares spread throughout the world could give him.

It should have been easier than breathing to crush the Guardians. They were at their weakest, with barely a handful of believers, while he had an army of Nightmares to take them out. His Nightmares were strong, fed from the fears and terrors of billions, and defeating them so that they actually stayed down was very, very difficult.

And he was still losing.

He looked around, spotting the snow sprite not far off, laughing with the children as they played in a dusting of snow that hadn't been there before and turned more of his Nightmares into sparkling dust.

“How dare you!” he screamed, losing more of his temper as he called upon all the shadows he could in the brightness slowly spreading as the nightmares disintegrated one by one. “I order you to get rid of the Children and Kill the Guardians now!”

The snow sprite laughed at him, blue eyes twinkling with something malicious as the Pooka looked warily between Pitch and the sprite. The sprite's arm and leg had a thick layer of ice over them, causing him to move awkwardly, but at least he would be a minor distraction to the Guardians.

“What are you waiting for! Obey!” Pitch could feel the rage and panic seeping into his voice, but there was nothing he could do.

Instead of doing what he was commanded though, the sprite laughed more, picking up a handful of snow and blowing on it. It seemed to flash blue, forming a perfect ball even as the sprite lightly skipped towards Pitch. It was very odd to see the boy skipping with so much ice weighing him down, but that was the least of Pitch's worries as the snowball exploded in his face, magic wrapping around him, foreign to his core but implacable.

Giggling, he collapsed to his knees, his shadows dissipating without his conscious will guiding them even as he looked up at Baba Yaga's creation.

The snow sprite loomed over him, the arm weighted with ice leaning against his staff planted in the ground as his other hand tossed another snow ball up and caught it, again and again.

“I am Jack Frost, Winter Elemental and Womb. I was born twice under the light of the Full Moon and given the favor of Mother Nature each time. I was the first Old World spirit born in the New World, and my territory ranges from the furthest North to Cancer's turn. My will is the heart of Winter's Magic, my laughter its joy and my rage its fury. I am my own Master, and I will not obey you.”

Pitch trembled as the sprite, no Elemental, spoke, paling as he realized exactly what force Baba Yaga had tamed to make this creature.

“That's impossible, only Nature can create an Elemental and you were made of Baba Yaga's magic,” he managed to gasp out, both scared and still in the grip of the Elemental's power though his giggles were slowly dying.

“Oh Pitch, so wise and ancient. Baba Yaga lied,” the boy said, and Pitch felt himself pale further, as the snowball came towards him. There was only one thing he could do, and even as he felt the strange magic grip him once more, Pitch pulled the shadows around himself, fleeing into the darkness that would take him back to his lair.

He didn't make it far into the soothing darkness, because there were barely any shadows in the normally dour depths. The Tooth Boxes, piled carelessly on the ground were glowing, not the pale gold of memories activated by the obnoxious Tooth Fairy, but a gentler, sparkling blue that he didn't recognize for all that it shone like a beacon of joy in the face of the fear filled shadows.

Howling with rage and pain, he set the last of his power to scooping up all of the tooth boxes, every single one of them, and pushing them out of his lair.

* * *

The dream sand made loops and whorls as it traveled through the air, swooping and swirling around the children and Guardians before converging much to the delight of everyone present. The late hour only made the bright dream sand shine more, the few remaining Nightmares fleeing as Sanderson Mansnoozie stepped triumphant from the sands.

It was impressive, no less so for coming at the heart of the biggest snowball fight of the season. Snowflake was right there with the sprogs cheering Sandy on, although his welcome back to the dreamweaver was a snowball to the face.

It had Sandy giggling and floating upside down as the children ran around and Sandy's creations made an impressive showing of themselves.

Aster chuckled to himself as he took in the happy scene, relief and hope waring for a spot in his heart as he realized that it was over.

They had won, and judging by his speech to Pitch, Snowflake was free of the geas that had made him obey those who knew his name.

It had been lucky, getting the knowledge from Jamie to help his Snowflake. Knowing that it was tied to his name, and that the human child had known the name had been even luckier. He didn't know who he needed to thank for that luck, but he was extremely grateful that he had been able to keep Snowflake from actually harming the children.

If he knew the sprite as well as he felt he did, Snowflake never would have forgiven himself, geas or no. Snowflake truly loved children, even when they couldn't see him, and it would have broken Aster's heart if the sprite had lost that joy he got from being around the younglings.

The snowball to his face shouldn't have been unexpected considering that there was an all out snow war going on between the sprogs and the Guardians, but it still came as a surprise that left him sputtering much to the amusement of the children.

“Oy! Who threw that! Don't you know its still Easter!” he said, laughing as he joined in the snowball fight.

It wasn't long before he felt Snowflake's hand on his arm, tugging him aside insistently, and together they slipped away from the children and Guardians, down towards the lake not far away.

“How ya going, Sno... Jack?” Aster asked as the chuckling sprite came to a stop at the frozen lake's shore.

“I'm doing good. So much better than I've ever been before,” the boy said with a laugh, throwing his arms around Aster's shoulders. “Thank you.”

“If I had known about the Geas, I swear I would have done something before it all went to shite,” Aster said with a sigh, holding on to Snowflake, well, Jack. He was going to have to remember to call him Jack now because that was his name.

“I couldn't tell you. One of Baba Yaga's last commands was that I tell no one,” Jack sighed, shuddering and Aster tightened his grip, hoping that his protective feeling wouldn't go awry. “Its okay, Bunny. I promise I'll tell you everything now that I can.”

“You had best tell all of us everything!” North's booming voice almost startled Aster out of his skin, and reminded him that although he was doing okay, he still had a wound in his side that would need a medic's attention soon, and when Jack winced as well Aster's thoughts turned to the ice around his arm and leg.

“I thought you were still playing with the sprogs?” He said bitterly despite the reminder that him and Snowflake needed rest now.

“Was, but Sandy is putting the little ones to sleep soon and Yeti and Tooth Fairies will get them back to bed. We will have to go back to Workshop and rest, to find out what all is going on.” North stated bluntly, shrugging before grinning. “Besides, Sandy also says he has information that we need to help Snowflake break geas.”

Aster wasn't sure who started it, but both he and Jack ended up on the ground laughing much to his old friend’s confusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Home Stretch!


	18. Chapter 18

The sitting room was warm and despite that Jack was still curled as close against Aster's side as his casts would allow.

Despite promising to tell the other Guardians his story as soon as they got back to the Pole, Jack had been immediately dragged into the infirmary by Phil who had been grunting vile threats about having let the sprite fight while he was injured. It was plain to see that Jack was the favorite of both the head Yeti and several of the little Tooth Fairies who hadn't left his side since they all regrouped.

North and Tooth had been dragged in by the medics as well, and they were having fits about Sandy who seemed to be amused by all of the attention.

Aster's injuries had been tended to as well, and the Pooka had a thick swath of bandages keeping the stitching around his wound clean, but he didn't let that dissuade him from holding Jack close and nuzzling the sprite's neck.

“That is enough of that!” North thundered as he came into the room, looking cross in his own set of bandages as Tooth followed more sedately.

“Never enough,” Aster purred, grinning even as he felt the wave of coolness that seemed to roll off of Jack as the boy blushed. “Seems we're all back together again, so time to gob it up and clear the air so we can go home.”

“I like home,” Jack said softly, and if Aster hadn't known better his voice sounded wistful.

“So then tell us about this Jack business then! Why did Snowflake not tell us his name or about the Geas before Pitch made appearance?” North demanded, settling into the most ostentatious chair that Aster had ever seen.

“Because of the Geas,” Jack said, taking a deep breath before looking everyone in the room in the eye. “So, I don't know if it was supposed to be this way, but I forgot a lot, and when Bunny broke the Geas, I remembered all of it. I remember being born, and mom taking me out that night under the full moon and singing. I remember seeing a black haired woman watching us and the moonlight flaring before she went back into the cabin. I don't think she saw either of them, but I also remember just before I died, the moon flared again.”

Aster found himself sputtering as Jack's words penetrated and he gripped the snow sprite possessively enough to make him squeak.

“Bunny it was a long time ago,” Jack managed to say, laughing it off though Aster was pleased to see none of the other Guardians dismissed it. “Jeeze, would you guys chill? I'm fine now. Besides, when I came back I could sense Mother Nature and the Moon watching me. That was when Baba Yaga cast the spell that trapped me. On of her first commands were to forget everything that came before. That's why I thought she created me. Other commands just kinda... stacked up over the years, but they were all tied to my name, something Baba Yaga heard when the Moon awakened me. Will you stop trying to crush me?”

The last was said with a half-hearted glare up at Aster and the Pooka reluctantly loosened his grip a little, though he still held tight.

“So you really thought that bitch created you? She didn't have that kind of power though did she? Exactly what did she make you do over the years anyways? If its not to hard to talk about?” he added on his last comment when Jack tensed, looking away.

“No, its not like it was that much of a secret among the ones she did business with. I'm a Winter Womb Elemental,” the snow sprite sighed at the blank looks given him, and even Aster had to admit he wasn't sure what that meant. “I can theoretically get pregnant and the offspring will have all the powers of a Winter Elemental. Apparently there are a lot of spirits who would like to be able to mold that kind of power to their advantage.”

Aster wasn't sure he was breathing anymore as the implications of that statement sunk in. He had known that his Snowflake had a rough past, and had been touch shy for a long time. Being used as a brood mare would have definitely had that effect, and with very good reason. The thought of anyone ever touching his mate like that made him want to shred everyone who had ever laid a finger on the snow sprite.

“Geeze Bunny, can I get a breath here?” Jack gasped and Aster again loosened his grip with great reluctance.

“How many?” Aster demanded, still holding Jack even as he tensed. “How many of those bastards had their way with you?”

“Bunny... I honestly don't know...”

Aster could taste the lie in his mates words, and he growled softly, warningly. It was enough to cut Jack off and make him rethink what he was going to say.

“If you don't want to say, fine, but don't lie okay?” Tooth said soothingly, trying to look supportive but Aster knew better. Her rage at what had been done to Jack ran as deep as any of them, but she was much better at hiding it, or at least holding it in reserve until it would do some good.

“I don't want to say,” the sprite's words came out immediately, and there were nods from the other Guardians and Aster knew he would have to drop it for now. He would ask again later, so he knew how large to make his war room.

“Were... are there any little ones we need to bring home?” North asked and Aster almost jolted as he realized that with as long as Baba Yaga had held Jack there were certain to be some little ones. Jack was shaking his head though, his whole body trembling.

“No... the first ones... didn't survive... and after that... I... I couldn't control anything else about my body... but I could make sure they wouldn't be abused like....”

Jack's voice was a shuddering whisper, the words barely pushed out through a tight throat and Aster could smell the sprite's tears.

“Alright, that's enough for tonight,” Aster said abruptly, standing up and scooping Jack into his arms. He wasn't entirely a hundred percent steady on his feet, but he growled at North and Sandy when they moved forward to offer help. “We're going home to the Warren and if there needs to be another Q an' A session it's going to be in our home.”

“Da... sounds reasonable,” North conceded, apparently smart enough not to challenge Aster on this.

* * *

Jack let himself be carefully arranged in the nest, not protesting as Aster gingerly slid in next to him and tucked the elemental under his chin. The Pooka might have thought he was being subtle, but he really wasn't fooling Jack with the hands off act. It was obvious he wanted to demand more information in the way that his jaw kept twitching on top of Jack's head, but he didn't feel like talking more.

It was always hard to think about the ones that hadn't made it, and even harder to think about the lives he had chosen to end before they could be used and abused by those who patronized Baba Yaga's services. The old witch had always made it a point to only accept offers from the cruelest and, for lack of a better term, evil of her associates.

Lost in memories of the past, it took him a moment to realize that Aster had cleared his throat, and when he looked up there was sadness but not judgement in the Pooka's eyes.

“So, any sprogs you sire are going to have winter powers?” Aster asked, which wasn't the question that Jack had been expecting and the elemental couldn't help the small and slightly strained chuckle that came out.

“No. Well, kind of actually, but not really. Any children I, uhm... am the father to will have normal chances at inheriting Elemental power,” Jack started, frost fiercely covering his cheeks and ears. “It's only when I'm... well, the mother, for lack of better term that the little ones will definitely have Elemental power.”

“Huh. Well I guess that explains a bit. If'n you want you don't have to be the carrier though,” Aster stated, before his whiskers and ears flattened against his face and skull. “I mean, if you actually want sprogs. If you don't that's fine too, and if you never actually want to get involved in the physical aspect of a relationship I will understand. After what you've been through, you deserve to make the choice for your own body.”

“Oh Aster,” Jack sighed, giggling as he reached up to kiss the Pooka on the nose. “I've said it before I wouldn't mind with you.”

“No offense mate, but I was rather hoping for a whole lot more than just a 'wouldn't mind',” he sighed before snuffling Jack's hair again, his grip tightening around the winter elemental until Jack was certain that his ribs were creaking, and just as certain that he had never felt safer. “What they did to you was wrong, Jack. Given the chance, I want to show you what lovemaking should be like. Properly, even.”

“Then show me.”

Jack let just enough challenge in his voice to hide the uncertainty, or at least, he thought he did until Aster just looked at him with wide, sad eyes. After a moment, Jack had to turn away, unhappy and as afraid as he was uncertain.

“Don't worry. I'll show you exactly what you're ready for and not a bit more, but I do need you to promise me one thing.” Jack looked back at Aster as the Pooka finished speaking, wondering what his terms and conditions would be. “Promise me that you will always tell me if you're uncomfortable or afraid. I wont be able to show you how love is supposed to be if you're afraid or bound up.”

Jack smiled, a warm glow starting in his chest as he looked up at Aster.

“That's twice you've said love,” he pointed out, and Aster's ears flattened again but the Pooka didn't stop staring at him with those earnest green eyes. After a few more moments, Jack gave in, reaching up to pull Aster down with his good arm so that he could kiss the stubborn look away from his face. “I promise I'll tell you if I'm actually afraid or can't stand what you're doing.”

“Good enough,” Aster declared, kissing him again before tucking himself around Jack carefully, making certain that neither of their injuries were in bad positions for sleep.

“By the way, I love you too Bunnyroo,” Jack murmured before letting himself drift deep into sleep.


	19. Epilog

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank Kayasurin for giving me the incentive to finish this so quickly after the last chapter! Also, Porn warning ahead!

The thing about being attuned to the Earth was that he could always feel when there was a disturbance near by. The thing about living in a home not only made of earth but IN Earth meant that the moment the stranger showed up he was awake and cranky because this was his territory.

Pooka were vegetarians, which anywhere else in the universe had always meant peaceful herbivores. On Gallifrey, given the fact that the flora outnumbered the fauna ten dozen to one and was more vicious than anywhere else in the universe, it meant that the Pooka were very high caste warriors.

When the intruder appeared in his Warren, in his Den, and most importantly given that his mate was injured there, at the foot of his Nest, it all added up to Aster up and with weapons hand before he was actually awake.

If she had attacked him instead of glaring, Aster would have reacted before he realized who he was looking at, and as it was it took him several moments to recognize Seraphina.

“Crikey, what the hell are you doing just popping in like that Sera?” he demanded, instincts not letting him move away from between her and his nest, where he could hear Jack stirring.

“Move, Bunnymund,” Sera snarled, and that wasn't like her at all. Given it had been something like eight hundred years since he had talked to her, but she was usually a lot more congenial all things considered.

“Mother Nature?” Jack's voice behind Aster and the Pooka held back his growl with a herculean effort.

“Get out from between me and mine, now,” Sera's voice was actually fairly calm, if one ignored the way that there was lightning coming out the ends of her hair, and the way that the wind in the room was picking up.

“What the... yours? What are you going on about?” Jack demanded, and Aster almost turned to snarl at him as he heard the snow spirit get up, all the way to his feet. “It's been just over three hundred years since I've seen you, and you show up now? When the geas is finally broken and I can get my life back on track how I choose?”

The look of shock on Sera's face would have been priceless if Aster hadn't felt quite so angry at her for showing up now, like Jack said, when he was finally free.

“Geas?” she paled, looking past Aster to where Jack stood before shock settled on her features. “You're alive!”

* * *

Jack grumbled into his tea cup as Aster tucked another pillow under his broken leg, not sure why he needed a pillow under his arm, his leg, and his head, or why the blanket was now being tucked around him. “Bunny... Bunny no. I don't need even one blanket, you are not wrapping another one on top of it.”

“You're going to get cold. Broken limbs aren't good for circulation,” Aster growled and Jack rolled his eyes and pushed the blanket down a little bit.

“I'm a Winter Elemental. I'm supposed to be cold.”

Mother Nature sat in the wooden chair to the side of the couch, hands demurely in her lap where she held her own cup of tea, though her eyes hadn't left Jack's face since Aster had growled and carried Jack out of the nest into the sitting room.

“Cool, not cold,” Aster was implacable as he tucked the next blanket around Jack, before giving in to the boy's protests and moving to sit in the only other chair in the room, which was usually in front of his desk. “Alright, now that we're all settled in, lets clear the air. Why are you showing up now, Sera, and not a few hundred years ago when Snowflake needed you?”

Jack listened, noting with relief that Bunny was sticking to his nickname in front of others although now that the Geas was neutralized there shouldn't be any danger in his name.

“For the most part because I thought Jack was dead,” Mother Nature started, and Jack shrugged internally. It made sense that she already knew his name, she was after all in charge of all Elementals directly. “When Jack became one of my Elementals I felt it. At the time it was customary to give new Elementals a few days to play with their power before bringing them to my stronghold to learn the rules. Jack disappeared from my senses before I could go to him, and I thought he was dead. I could find no trace of the one who had killed my Winter Elemental. When the next Elemental was born, I went to her immediately. There hasn't been another yet. When I felt you last night, I thought you were a newborn Elemental and was on my way to you.”

“How does that lead to you down in my Warren today?” Aster asked, snorting.

“I followed my Elemental. Forgive me for assuming you had abducted him, but if I do find out he's here against his will I will end you, Bunnymund,” there was no doubt that she meant it, so Jack spoke up quickly.

“I like being here. You can’t hurt Bunny because he's mine!” When she quirked her eyebrow at him, Jack stuck his tongue out at her. Mother Nature or not, and technically in charge of him or not, he wasn't going to back down and let Aster get hurt.

“My turn for questions. Where have you been the last three hundred years?”

“Enslaved,” Aster said bluntly, growling and Jack groaned at how blunt he was.

“Under a Geas. Baba Yaga caught me when I woke up... I just remembered yesterday... during the fight with Pitch,” Jack sighed, half hunkering into himself as Mother Nature began to glare. The sparks running through her hair were a big hint that she was pissed off, and he really didn't like that being directed at him, but he didn't think apologizing was going to help.

“That's enough of that, Sera,” Aster's words were sharp, but it turned Mother Nature's glare away from Jack and towards the Pooka instead. Unlike Jack he took it in stride, glaring right back at the terrifying woman. “It's not Snowflake's fault that he was under the Geas. I'm betting that that bitch had some kind of shielding spells woven into the spell as well. Weird, but every witch and wizard seems to have some kind of specialty, its part of what makes human magic users so unpredictable.”

“One of my own was kept from me and you act as though it was not so important? My first Winterborn and you blow off this witch who held him as if it does not matter?” there was thunder in her voice, the rage of a storm building in the incrementally small room that wouldn't be able to bear up under her rage much longer.

Only Aster was bearing up with it, with all the patience of long established earth, and all the rage that was implied to be held underneath.

“Knock it off Sera. If you blow up bits and pieces of my Warren again I’m going to tan your hide. You’ve grown out of being unable to control your strength so stop sparking already,” Jack was amazed at how Aster spoke to Mother Nature, and apparently so was she. 

The glare cut down and the pressure in the room came back down to bearable levels though. 

“Snowflake has been with me for over fifty years now, Baba Yaga is dead, all three of them, and if I had known you were looking for him I would have allowed supervised visits years ago. Provided that Snowflake didn’t mind,” the last part seemed to be added in almost as an afterthought but Jack could feel Aster’s eyes on him to clarify that it was indeed okay and the winter spirit nodded. 

He would have been terrified to be alone with Mother Nature because she was indeed kinda scary all things considered, but as long as Aster was there he didn’t think he would mind. 

“I suppose that’s a good thing,” Mother Nature said after a few moments, and though she was still frowning it was more thoughtful now than angry. “I suppose this means you’ll be there with him when I introduce him to his Elemental brothers and sisters. Just as well, none of the others have claimed mates so young.”

Both Jack and Aster started sputtering at that, both about mates and the definition of young.

* * *

Tucked up against Aster’s side, Jack sighed, enjoying the close contact as he stared at the still mostly full teacup in his hands. 

Mother nature had left about an hour ago, after setting up training and introduction times for Jack to meet the other Elementals. Thankfully she didn’t expect him to show up until his bones were whole again, but that was only a few short weeks away. 

He had seriously been looking forward to, and dreading, something else entirely. 

“You don’t actually have to go if you don’t want to,” Aster’s voice was a quiet rumble where Jack was leaning into the Pooka’s chest, and the winter elemental sighed as he shook his head. 

“I said I would. It would be kinda churlish of me to back out now,” he sighed again, enjoying the freedom to skulk as he pleased. “Besides, I was looking forward to… well…” he blushed brightly, his heart speeding up as he trailed off. 

Aster chuckled at him, the jerk. 

“You know… if you really are looking forward to learning the fine points of love-making, we don’t have to wait,” the Pooka’s voice had somehow segued from a chuckle to a warm purr that made Jack blush even harder. 

“How… uhm, how would that work?” he managed to ask, his voice almost a squeak. If he was injured wouldn’t that get in the way of Aster well, taking him? Especially if the Pooka meant to be gentle?

“Oh Jack… do you trust me?” Aster’s words held a certain weight, and the winter elemental looked up at the Pooka nodding. 

“Of course I trust you. I’m still here, aren’t I?” 

“Let’s move this to the nest then,” Aster’s purr made Jack’s heart race again, and he nodded even as Aster picked him up and carried him deeper into the den. 

When Jack found himself laid down in the nest, he felt awkward and ungainly, especially with the way that Aster was looking at him. He blushed deeply, though he was soon distracted by a warm, gentle kiss. 

The Pooka was moving slowly, much more slowly than Jack was used to with what could only be described as intimate acts. Then again, he supposed that it was unfair to compare Aster to Baba Yaga’s customers, there was an entire world of difference between them. 

He actually wanted Aster with him, and wouldn’t mind having the Pooka’s children if that was what Aster wanted. He would never mistreat them; Jack was dead certain about that much, at the very least. 

The next thought flew right out of his head as Aster’s nose and whiskers tickled just under his ear, while the Pooka’s teeth gently nibbled at his neck. He had been bitten during intimacy before, but this was entirely new and sent a tingle all through his body. That was definitely different, in a very pleasant way and he may have made a small noise as Aster did it again. 

The Pooka’s hands were resting on his hips, just under the edge of his shirt, and they slowly began to work their way up, taking his shirt with them, though he barely noticed because Aster’s hands felt warm. Very warm, and very good against his cool skin. Before Jack realized what the giant rabbit had in mind, let alone protest, his shirt had been removed, and he blushed deeply once more, frost spreading from his cheeks to halfway down his chest as Aster sat back on his haunches to stare at him. 

Despite everything, this might have been the first time since he’d come to the Warren that he wasn’t wearing a shirt in front of the Pooka. He was still body shy, and although he knew that being nude was required, he felt a hint of panic rising up in his gut.

It was smoothed away almost immediately as Aster moved in again, layering kisses first on his lips, and then his neck. That felt nice, and Jack couldn’t hold in the next breathy whimper that left him as a tingle seemed to run from his neck down his chest and straight to his groin. 

It wasn’t the first time he had gotten hard, but it was the best so far. 

Aster was taking his time, kissing and licking just about every inch of Jack’s skin between his neck and his nipples, moving so slowly that Jack didn’t even realize he was moving until he felt the Pooka’s rough tongue against his right nipple. 

“Aster~” Jack couldn’t hold in the breathy moan any more, and he pulled on the Pooka’s head with both his hands, the cast only getting in the way a little. 

“Patience Jack,” Aster purred, licking the elemental’s sternum on his way to the other nipple, and it was enough to make Jack whimper as another tingle went straight to his groin. He didn’t want patience at this point, he wanted more of whatever Aster had in mind and he wanted it _now_. 

This was nothing like what he had experienced before, which was exactly what Aster had promised him. The first breath against his belly did surprise him though, because he hadn’t even noticed Aster moving away from his chest. 

He whimpered, only half in lust, as Aster’s hands settled on his hips, tugging at his pants. He fully expected that once his pants were off Aster was going to mount him, but the Pooka surprised him by not tugging his pants all the way down.

Aster’s tongue on his cock made him buck up, a shout on his lips as he realized what the other was doing. 

“Why… what are you…” the rest was cut off in a moan as the sudden warmth of Aster’s mouth engulfed him entirely. That was good, tongue and lips and the faintest occasional brush of teeth all working together while greedy hands wandered up to his chest and soft thumb pads were stroking his nipples. 

The rest of the experience was a haze of need and oh god that was good as whatever was left of thought decided to bugger off. He wanted to spread his legs wide, give the Pooka more access but the pants around his thighs kept him from doing so, and warm hands wandered from stroking his nipples down to cupping his ass and back in a pattern that seemed entirely random but so very nice. 

Jack didn’t even realize what was happening as the pleasure overwhelmed him and he came with a moan, curling forward around Aster’s head buried in his lap. 

When he came back to himself a few heartbeats or lifetimes later, Aster was curled around him purring and his pants had been pulled back into place. 

“Aster?” the word slurred more than Jack thought it should, but he felt rather wrung out. It was like his bones were all made of jelly in a mellow kind of way. “Aster, what about you?” 

“Don’t worry about me mate,” the Pooka’s words were so full of satisfaction that Jack couldn’t help but take them at face value, and his eyes slipped closed again as he drifted off into a very satisfied slumber.

* * *

Aster couldn’t help the satisfied purr as he stared down at his mate, the boy’s breathing evening out to the long, steady breaths of deep slumber. He hadn’t been expecting to have so much fun showing his mate the first parts of lovemaking, and he might have been skipping a step or three, but no one could disapprove. 

There was no way that Jack was ready for more yet, as nervous and flighty as the boy was. As long as he felt safe though, Aster wasn’t going to hold back from giving him everything he deserved. 

“Love you, Snowflake,” he purred, dropping one more kiss on the back of Jack’s neck before settling down for a nap himself. There would be cleanup and repercussions from the Easter that wasn’t in the morning, but for now, they had a little more time just to themselves.


End file.
